Second Chances
by Kerioke
Summary: Starts with the ending scene of 'Journey's End' and continues with Rose and the new Doctor's lives in the parallel universe. Their struggles and triumphs with life and learning about one another, and most imporantly about finding love together. Gonna go ahead and rate it M just in case...posting as I'm writing so please bare with me on this part.
1. Chapter 1

My First Doctor Who fanfic, hope y'all enjoy it. And as always I do not claim any ownership for the characters or plot lines from the series**. Please review, but keep them polite and professional please.**

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Chapter 1: Saying Goodbye

The TARDIS appeared on the deserted beach in Norway, the Doctor opened the doors without a sound and walked out on the damp sand, his feet making light impression as he moved slightly forward until he noticed that only Jackie, Donna, and his counterpart had followed him onto the beach, Rose was still standing before the console not moving. They had not agreed about what was happening right now, she didn't want to leave him again. Sighing he turned and motioned for the other three to give him a moment with the stubborn blonde within.

"Rose..."

"I can't do this, I don't belong in this world! I'm supposed to be traveling throughout time and space with you for the rest of my life!" She crumpled to her knees as a sob wracked through her thin frame; he kneeled down next to her and wrapped her up into his arms placing a gentle kiss to her temple. "I told you I loved you the last time we were here, and it broke my heart that I wouldn't be able to be with you, but instead had to love you from afar..."

"Sometimes, my dear Rose, loving someone from afar is the best thing you can do." He tilted her chin up to look into her eyes. "I know you don't understand right now, but I promise one day you will understand."

He helped her to her feet and walked side by side out onto the beach where the other three waited patiently for them to come out.

"But I spent all that time looking for you, I don't want to come back here now..."

"But you got to, we saved the universe, but at a cost...and the cost was him. He destroyed the Daleks, he committed genocide, he's too dangerous to be left alone."

"You made me!" Protested the Doctors counterpart.

"EXACTLY. You were born in battle full of blood and anger and revenge...remind you of someone? That is me when we first met," the Doctor's gaze returning to his blonde companion. "And you made me better, and now you can do the same for him."

"But he's not you," she almost whispered tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"He needs you, that's very me."

"But it's better than that, though. Don't you see what he's trying to give you?" Donna spoke up from behind the Doctor. "Go on."

Rose turned to the second Doctor as Donna's gaze fell on him to explain what she was saying. He looked back her with only a second to think then gave her the explanation her eyes were pleading for.

"I look like him, think like him, same memories, same thoughts, same everything, except I've only got one heart."

"Which means?" Her voice pleading.

"I'm part human. Pacifically the aging part, I'll grow old and never regenerate. I've only got one life, Rose Tyler. I could spend it with you if you want?"

"You'll grow old with me?"

"Together."

"This reality is sealing it off..."

"But this still isn't right, the Doctor is still you." Rose went to move towards the Doctor as if to keep him from leaving.

"And I'm him..." the Doctor said matter of fact.

"Alright, well answer me this; the last time I stood on this beach on the worst day of my life, what was the last thing you said to me? Go on say it."

Both Doctors standing on either side of her now.

"I said Rose Tyler," the Doctor said gently if not sadly.

"Yea, and how was that sentence going to end?" She urged him to continue.

"Does it need saying..." his voice starting to crack.

"And you other Doctor, how was that sentence going to end?"

The second Doctor leaned down to whisper into her ear so only she could hear the words. She glanced at him for a second then pulled him close into a passionate kiss. The Doctor and Donna took the moment to return to the TARDIS and set back to the original universe and let the Vortex close behind them leaving Rose and the new Doctor to spend their lives together in the parallel universe. Rose pulled away from the kiss at the sound of the TARDIS departing and made a half attempt to run to it, but stopped mid stride knowing there was nothing she could do now; the new Doctor coming up to her side and lacing his fingers with hers, he was not jealous or upset any that she still wanted to go with his other half, she had loved Him first, but he would show her that this was for the best and he was still the man she loved, just not immortal anymore.

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**AN: Might I add it is not easy to do word for word transferring from the show to this...I know I changed some of the original words, but I needed it to fit the beginning of my version so please don't hate.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Getting Back to Normal

The next morning Jackie knocked on the hotel room next to hers as she loudly called for Rose to get up, the Doctor opened the door seconds later to announce that they were definitely awake already.

'Well, the two of you better be ready to leave within the hour, we need to be on the train back home by 10:30.'

'Gotcha, we will be ready then.'

Jackie walked back to her room and the Doctor turned back into his and Rose's room; Rose was sitting upon the window sill looking out over the valley and sea beyond, she hadn't said much since they had arrived at the hotel last night. The Doctor crossed the room to stand next to her and quietly laid a gentle hand on her arm.

'Jackie says, we will be leaving in an hour to head back to London.'

With a small laugh she replied, 'Yea, I heard. She's not the quietest speaker in the world.' For the first time since they arrived back in the alternate universe she smiled genuinely, he gave her a cheeky smile in return.

The rest of the morning moved on rather quickly, and they soon found themselves on the train heading back to London. During the trip Jackie announced that they would have to come up with a name for him because 'The Doctor' wasn't going to fly over very well when he went job hunting. He paled at the thought of actually having to work at an actual normal, mundane job...his immediate thought being 'I'll have to get a mortgage!' Rose laughed at his horror and told him that he was more than welcome to come live in her condo, there was plenty of room for them both.

'You should look into working at the new Torchwood, the brain of a Time Lord could be very valuable to improving the new company.'

'I thought Pete destroyed it when the Cybermen and Daleks crossed over into the other universe?'

'He did, but we had planned in advance to rebuild it and improve it way before we destroyed the current establishment. Torchwood can be operated with better care now that it has been relocated to a more private location and with people who have a better concept of how the balance of good and evil work throughout the universes and on how to deal with them more properly in the future than the people of Torchwood have in the past. Which is why you are the perfect person for the job.' Rose finished and looked at him for a moment trying to determine what he was thinking, even now as a human he could be an enigma and it made her smile softly.

'That's not such a bad idea, Rose Tyler...I might just do that. The upside being that I'll know exactly what I'm talking about.'

'The only problem is that no one understands you, Doctor,' Jackie butted in earning a brief glare from him and a laugh from her daughter.

'I'm offended, Jackie!'

'Hush you two, we have strayed from the topic at hand enough...the Doctor needs a normal name for his life on this new earth. So what are you thinking Doctor?'

'Naturally, my regular persona John Smith, however I shall keep my title of Doctor. My understanding of the work force of Earth is that there are many people who are called Doctor of something but are not necessarily doctors in the medical sense. I am educated enough to do most of Earth's jobs, so I shall be Doctor John Smith.'

'John Smith?! You have got to be joking? That is clearly a fake name, everyone uses it when they don't want to give their real name.'

'I happen to like the name, and obviously it is my fake name, my real name cannot be spoken.'

'Well, if that is the name he wants to use, mom then that is what we shall call him.' Rose looked up at him with light in her eyes.

Pete stood in the train station awaiting the arrival of his wife and daughter to return, his son Toby held fast in his arms; he hadn't wanted to let his girls go on such a dangerous mission, but stopping Rose from getting to the Doctor had been an impossible feat, and Jackie wouldn't be persuaded to not follow Rose across the Void. Upon receiving the phone call from his wife letting him know they were alright he booked them places on the train bringing them swiftly back home. As the train pulled to a stop in the station he rushed out into the cold night air to meet them as they got off. The two women and the Doctor finally emerged, Jackie ran straight for her husband and son and wrapped her arms as tight around them as she could; Rose and the Doctor followed close behind but at a more calm pace. Pete nodded at this new Doctor; Jackie had briefed him on what had happened on the beach the other day.

'Doctor, it's good to see you again.'

'And to you too, Pete.'

Pete gently pushed his son into Jackie's arms and moved to pull Rose into and embrace, glad to have her back safe and sound. Kissing her on the forehead he released her and let her step back next to the Doctor. Wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders he led them to his military jeep out in the parking lot, after everyone got settled in he started the engine and made way back to his and Jackie's home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope everyone is enjoying my first Doctor Who story, please review, that is the only way I can know how to improve or keep doing as I write this. And as always please keep them polite and professional please. I will remove rude and crude remarks that are offense and not useful. Thank you.**

**Kerioke**

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**Chapter Three: The New Torchwood pt. 1**

They arrived at the Tyler's mansion half an hour later, the light coming from the front den was warm and inviting, the butler opened the front entrance allowing the entrance hall to illuminate the steps leading up into the home. Pete pulled up to the front door and let everyone get out saying he'd meet them in the den in a few minutes. The family moved into the house quietly, Jackie excused herself to go put Toby back in his crib for the night. Rose and the Doctor moved into the den and took a seat on the loveseat, her head laying upon his shoulder in exhaustion. His hand found hers and tangled his fingers with hers, his thumb caressing the skin beneath it in soft strokes lulling her into a light sleep.

Jackie crept quietly down the stairs, as she came in view of the den she stopped and leaned against the door frame smiling at the peaceful faces of the two sitting on the loveseat. Pete came in the front door and chuckled softly at the sight, he kissed her hair and moved them into the room as well and sat down on the couch, the movement woke the Doctor from his doze and smiled at them. After a few moments of comfortable silence the Doctor stroked the side of her cheek gently bringing her back to consciousness.

'Oi, I was having such a lovely dream, why'd ya wake me up?'

'I believe your parents wish to speak to us for the movement, you're not gonna make me endure that all by myself now are you?'

'Oi, what are you trying to say, Spaceman?!' Jackie scrunched up her face in irritation.

Rose gave a soft giggle at her mom's expense and sat upright to show she was awake and listening.

'So the new Torchwood is ready to be activated for real now that the old one has been reduced to rubble.'

'Sorry to interrupt you, Pete, but what do you mean 'activate' the new Torchwood?'

'Well, since the old one was being corrupted by people who don't have an extensive, or more so, a more extensive idea of how to deal with outside life forms, we decided to take some extra precautions in case we were found out while in the process of rebuilding we created a failsafe locking system with four individual card keys, Rose, Jackie, myself, and Mickey; if used alone the keys each can open the main door, but can only unlock the field areas assigned to the card holder. When used all at once, one at each of the four entrances, they will unlock all entrances and areas within the building. The only way to override the locks without using our four keys is to use this key...'

Pete got up and pulled a key from around his neck and unlocked a door beside the crackling fireplace where the Doctor saw a safe hidden. After a few seconds Pete opened the safe and pulled out a clear box where a gold key lay in a center slot; Pete handed the box to Rose who pulled another key from around her neck that resembled the TARDIS key he had given her a long time ago. She unlocked the clear box and took the key from within and held it out to him.

'This is the master key to the whole institute and it belongs to you. Nobody but the three of us know of its existence, not even Mickey knew. The only area within the building that even our keys won't open is the one that contains any form of transportation between universes and worlds throughout this universe as well. None of us felt anyone else had a right to that field except or you. The key is yours if you want it, if not we will lock it back up and keep the keys to it separate and safe.' Pete looked expectantly at the Doctor.

'Well, I suppose that since you went to all the trouble to make me such an important key, it wouldn't hurt to take a look and see what this new Torchwood is all about. But not tonight, we are all tired and in need of a proper rest.' He stood from the seat and pulled Rose up with him, 'Where can we sleep for the night?'

'In Rose's room of course, and if you want to sleep separately the room across from hers is a ready guest room that you are more than welcome to. Rose will show you the way; and don't sleep in too long you two, we are going to go into town in the morning and get Dr. John Smith here a proper wardrobe for this world, can't have him running around in that same suit every day.' Jackie sniffed snobbishly.

Rose took his hand and led him upstairs after saying goodnight to her parents. They went down the East Wing for a little ways until they came to an old-fashioned wooden door with iron hinges, she looked up at him curiously, 'Do you want to stay with me tonight?'

'My dear Rose, as much as I'd like to I think it would be best if I take the guest bedroom for now. Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning.' He took her face into his hands and kissed her forehead then turned for the guest room across the hall.

Rose watched him enter the other room with only a quick glance over his shoulder at her one last time and flashed his cheesy grin at her before shutting the door, she smiled at his antics then went into her own room. She went to the dresser and pulled out the PJs that she always left over when ever she'd stay the night watching Toby when her parents went out for date night. Taking the sleepwear into the small adjourning bathroom she washed up and dressed for bed. The king sized bed that had been provided to her when she first came to this world felt fabulous after all they had been through since she went after her Doctor, her eyes floated shut and sleep fell upon her the second her head hit the pillow, just like in every cheesy story she'd ever read.

_ The TARDIS jolted to a halt knocking herself and the Doctor to the ground as usual, you'd think by know they would have thought to hold on better when the TARDIS was grounding herself in whatever time and place they'd chosen as their next adventure, but no they kept on flying into the floor. Standing up she brushed herself off and looked at him expectantly then at the door, impatient as always to see what lie behind it. He nodded for her to go ahead and take a look so she ran to the door and swung them open only to be blinded by bright sunlight bouncing off soft waves of sea water. The strangest thing was though, she saw herself standing on the beach talking to the Doctor much like the time she had many months ago on that beach the first time in Norway._

_ 'I...I love you!' the other Rose cried only slightly stumbling over her words as sobs choked her momentarily._

_ 'Quite right...and I suppose if it's the last time I can say it, Rose Tyler...'_

_ He didn't get to finish his sentence as he faded from view, and her other self clutched her stomach in such agony she thought she was surely going to fall over._

Rose jolted up from the pillow, tears were running down her face; she would have given anything to have just dreamt a different nightmare than to dream about the day her Doctor first left her on that beach. She got up from her bed and crept across the hall and knocked on his door, no reply came so she quietly opened it but didn't succeed as the old door creaked from disuse waking the man in bed who looked up at her with concern.

'Rose, what's the matter?'

'I had a bad dream, I don't want to be alone.'

He motioned for her to join him on the large bed, she moved quickly to his side and crawled under the raised covers and snuggled close to his warmth, her head resting where is shoulder connected to his chest, he wrapped his arm around her and hugged her close to him. He let her breathe him in for a moment, he taking in the lavender scent coming from her hair.

'What did you have a dream about?'

'That day on the beach...the first time. If felt so real, but I was watching everything from someone else's point of view. But I felt the pain all over again like it was happening again, I can't lose you for another time, I don't think I could survive it.' She looked up at his face, 'I almost lost you the other day to that Dalek, I was so frightened then, I'd finally found you and I was watching you die in my arms.'

'I wouldn't have died, just regenerated, it'll take more than Dalek exterminate beam to kill the Doctor.'

'I know, but you wouldn't have been My Doctor anymore, you would have changed. I didn't want you to change.'

'Don't worry, I won't ever change on you, not ever again.' He kissed her forehead and held her tighter in an attempt to reassure her that he would always be there for her.

She closed her eyes and soon fell back to sleep, he soon fell asleep again too and they stayed like that all night, finding peace in each other's embrace.

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**AN: So I'm bouncing a few ideas around in my head trying to see which way would be more fun to take this story. I want to keep it close to how the real characters act in the series, but at the same time since I'm using the Doctor's duplicate with Rose it can go so many different ways, because technically Rose's story ends with our Doctor on the beach and we never find out what happens after he left. Now, I've read several stories with the Doctor duplicate and Rose, but haven't really enjoyed the ones where they give him a different personality than the one we all know and love from the show, not saying that the stories are bad, actually they are usually pretty good and I like the plot lines, but I just can't get the feel for their versions of the Doctor. What do you say?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The New Torchwood pt. 2**

Morning came all too soon for them as Jackie's shrill voice began to ring down the corridor telling to get their lazy butts up. Groaning in annoyance Rose snuggled in closer to the stirring man beside her. She moved a finger in slow circular patterns on his chest, a smile creeping onto his lips even though his eyes were still shut.

'That tickles, my dear.'

'Serves you right for waking me up to talk to my parents last night.'

'Oi, I was right, you would have left me to fend for myself against your mother. That's just plain cruel, Miss Tyler. I think I shall have to ban you from sneaking into my room in the middle of the night.'

'All right then, hope you like living here then, do that and I won't show you to my condo. You'll have to hear my mother every morning or get a mortgage...'

He paled at the ideas she and began to sputter indignantly. 'Y..you'd really leave me at the mercy of your mother?'

'haha...No, I just wanted to see your reaction. No, we'll move over there this evening, but for now I think we had better get up before mother comes looking for us.'

They climbed reluctantly out of the comfort of his bed, she went to go across the hall to get dressed in her room, but as she opened the door she found Jackie in the process of raising her hand to knock on the door, both scaring the wits out of the other. Her mother held out some clothes saying they were some of Pete's old things and they looked like they may fit the Doctor, so he would have some clean clothes today. Rose took the clothes from her with a quiet thanks and walked back into the room to give the clothes to him. Before she could completely turn away from him he grabbed her elbow and pulled her back to him, one hand cupping the side of her face as his lips brushed softly against hers. This kiss was not like the one on the beach, hard and feverish, but soft and sweet. It only lasted a few seconds but it left Rose feeling dizzy and warm. She blushed up at him as he gave his famous smirk whenever he knew he had left her speechless.

Twenty minutes later they walked down the stairs to join the three other family members in the dining room. Toby was screaming gleefully while playing with his breakfast in the highchair. Pete looked up from his breakfast and gave a friendly good morning to them as Jackie ushered them to hurry up and eat. She wanted to get into town before it got too crazy with traffic and people. They did as they were told, not wishing to bring her wrath down on them so soon in the day. When everyone was done Pete bid them goodbye, and that he would see them later at Torchwood. Jackie and Toby were going to ride in her car while Rose and the Doctor would ride in Rose's car so they wouldn't have to transfer their shopping from two cars before heading back to the condo.

The mall was already crazy when they arrived much to Jackie's dismay, she had hoped that they would get in and out quickly, but Rose reminded her that it was Saturday and all the students would be coming here to hang out with their friends and be away from nagging parental. Jackie snorted in response saying she'd never been that type of parent when they lived in the other universe, Rose just rolled her eyes in amusement. They went into a store for men's suits and tuxedos and had the tailor show them some of the more popular casual suits that would look good on the Doctor. While trying on some to see how they looked first before having them taken back to be properly tailored to his exact fit the Doctor found himself alone with Jackie Tyler while Rose roamed about the store looking at other items for him.

'Doctor, how did you know that stroking Rose's cheek like that last night would wake her up. It's a rather intimate gesture, don't you think.'

'Well, as you know Rose and I travelled together for a while, and we were the only company each had...now I'm not saying we were, uh...intimate and that way, but she would get upset at times and she would come to me for comfort. There were times when she would come lay with me after a particularly bad dream and by chance I found that stroking her cheek calmed her into a soothing sleep and could also bring her back around.'

'But you were never intimate with my daughter? I find that very hard to believe, Rose is beautiful enough to even tempt a Time Lord, and as you said it was just the two of you on that spaceship.'

'Jackie, I can assure you nothing happened between us on my TARDIS but you are right she is beautiful enough to capture even this Time Lord's heart.'

Rose walked back up to them and gave him an appreciative glance in the suit he had on, completely unaware of the fact they had just been talking about her. They got several of the casual suits tailored for him, and some more shoes similar to the ones he wore on the TARDIS, though Rose did make him get at least one pair of dress shoes. When Jackie suggested that he get a proper tuxedo he , outright refused claiming something bad always happens when he wore one. Rose declared with a small laugh that trouble followed him no matter what he wore. While he agreed this was true the difference as that normally people didn't die on him, but always did in the tux. Rose let him off the hood with the tuxedo since it really seemed to bother him.

They grabbed some lunch in the food court then decided to head out to Torchwood so the Doctor could check out the institute himself. They had found him a chain to hold his key on, and it now rested against his chest beneath the shirt he wore. The drive out to the new building took them an hour from the city, the large building stood ten stories high and half as wide as it's height. There was a perception filter surrounding it, Rose explained that since they held keys to the building they could see it.

'So stealing TARDIS technology I see. I knew you were trouble when I first met you, but a thief...' The grin on his face gave him away.

'Don't blame me, blame Mr. Captain Jack Harkness. He is the one who gave us the notes to make it possible here.'

'I should have known he'd meddle in places his nose doesn't belong...there's not an alternate version of him in this world is there?'

'Haven't ran into him yet, but who knows for sure. Oh, and Pete wanted me to tell you that he has a surprise for us when we get here. Tried to pry it out of him, but he rightly refused to give me anything.'

Pete was waiting for them at the front entrance, Jackie and Toby next to him, they got out of the car and walked up to her family.

'Are the two of you ready to make this a working facility?'

'I am, it's time we got this profession headed in the right direction. Not just for a greater Britain either, but a greater, peaceful Earth.' Rose looked for approval from the Doctor who grinned in return.

'Ok, well Doctor there is only one outside slot for your key and it is here at the main entrance, and since Mickey didn't come back with you we will need your key to open the building completely for sure. The rest of us will go to each entrance and in exactly five minutes insert our keys and activate all the areas, then follow the hall straight to the center lobby, don't go anywhere else just yet.'

Nodding an affirmative they moved into position, waiting for just the right moment. At the five minute mark the keys were inserted and a female voice spoke a welcome to Torchwood Tower through the speakers beside each key. The stainless steel doors began to slide open to reveal four long hallways connecting by a central lobby. A circular desk split in two to provide two entrances to the center of the circle; six computers sat upon the desk. Four were on the back desktop, the other two on the front.

'Now that we are all here I am sure the two of you would like to know what this surprise is, and you Doctor will probably want a tour of the whole building which Rose will be able to do now, and since the surprise is at the very top level where everything we've put under lock for you, Doctor, that can be the last thing for you. Honestly, if you go see it now you will just get very distracted for the rest of the night.'

The two looked at Pete in pure confusion, what could possibly be THAT distracting? After a moment her family got on the elevator and went on up.

'Well then, not entirely sure he is mentally stable today, I mean we've travelled all over the universe, what could possibly be that shocking?'

'Well, we won't get any closer to finding out just standing around now will we?' The Doctor jumped from one foot to the other excitable.

'Ok, well as you can see the lobby is the only thing on level one, it will basically be used as a sign in and directory. No one will be allowed past the lobby without signing in and announcing what field they wish to speak to. Secretaries will be placed here and will have the minimal knowledge of what really lies on the upper levels and will not be permitted to go up without proper supervision of the field area leaders.' She led them to the elevator and went up to the next floor. 'Floor two, check in of any alien technology and weaponry, basically the same rules as before: any confiscated alien technology or weaponry will be processed and if we can use it to help move Earth forward we will, if it proves to be too dangerous for the world we send it up to floor ten to either be locked up from use or destroyed all together. Basically, the final decision will be left to you.' She sat down at a chair and turned on the computer at the main desk, a few other desks and computers sat behind them. 'This is where we will log in the alien items so we know they are in the building and give them a barcode, then they will be divided up between the employees at the desks behind us to determine if they are safe or not and what field area they belong in. Those people will page the field the item is intended for and someone will come down to retrieve it.'

'Security is going to be a task just to get past.'

'Yes, well as we mentioned the idea is to create a better and uncorrupted facility. Proper knowledge for every field.'

'Do you think that it will make a difference?'

'To be honest we will not know until we have the proper staff available, and only time will tell if everyone will uphold to the ideas of this Torchwood. We've selected a handful of the old staff that we felt were eligible to join us, which leaves out all of the management from the old one. They will more than lightly be put on this floor to do the procession. Here is a list of all the items we have on site at the moment.'

'While a significant amount, that's nothing compared to what the old one had, right?' He pulled out his dark rimmed glasses and scanned the screen.

'Correct, Pete and Mickey spent weeks smuggling the more dangerous items here one at a time. We got most of those and a few items we could use without bringing harm to the general public. Nothing was amiss until right before I made the jump to the other universe, that's why Pete stayed behind. He'd been fortunate enough to be assigned to oversee that nothing else went missing, and to find the missing invetory. He took a few last things and set the bomb up. It was rigged to explode after a scan of the entire tower to clear that no one was inside. Pete took the liberty of visiting vital staff members to "inform" them of the accident and either wipe their memory of Torchwood of gave them an invitation to this one. Anyways, we should move on, the third floor is bathrooms and lunchroom. It is the only floor the staff on levels one and two can go outside their own, there is a special elevator for those two and it is operated by an employee key. The elevator won't allow anyone from level one get to level two...'

'What if there is one from each level in the elevator couldn't they just get off with the other?'

'Fair point, the cameras will scan each person exiting, if one did the system will alert one of us immediately informed and we can terminate their position in the company on the spot, their memory will be wiped and they will be escorted out of the building by us personally.' They got on the elevator and went up to level four. 'Level four: small gadgets, no weapons in the sense of guns or lasers, more like Jack's time jumping gadget on his wrist. Relatively safe items. They can also manufacture such items here too, but they will have to be cataloged back down on level two.'

They moved through the next few levels quickly: small weapons, large weapons, bombs, small aircrafts, large aircrafts and other transports. The elevator moved up the long shaft between levels nine and ten, due to the items belonging in level nine the ceiling for that level had been raised considerably making the ride up to ten longer than normal. Upon reaching its destination the elevator door opened and they were bombarded with a loud shout of...

_**'SURPISE!'**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**'Surprise!'**_

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**Chapter 5: The New Torchwood pt. 3 and Going Home**

The shout vibrated through them as they walked off the elevator onto the top floor. As they looked up they saw many of their old companions standing shoulder to shoulder with wide goofy grins on all their faces. Rose and the Doctor stood astounded, how could all these people be here?

'How...how are you all here?'

'They just showed up the day you jumped, they are all from this universe, but with the memories of the other ones, so naturally I brought them on to our plans here; all the companions of the Doctor, working together.'

'Brilliant!' the Doctor swiftly hugged each of the people he never thought he'd see again, the grin on his face an almost impossible feat for any normal human.

Sarah Jane and her son, Martha, Donna and her grandfather all stood before Rose and him once more, and somehow it seemed right that they should all be together.

'And Doctor, we have a special surprise of our own,' Sarah Jane said as she and Luke took a step closer to him. Looking behind her she gave two short whistles calling forward a walking, four-legged robot dog.

'K9!'

'K9-3.0 to be exact!'

'You weren't kidding, Pete, this would have been very distracting.' The Doctor clapped the other man on the shoulder.

'And you still haven't completely unlocked your area. That glass door opens only for you.'

He walked over to the door and took his key back out, unlocking it he and the others walked in to explore the treasures that had been placed there specially for him. There was a desk near the back of the first room, he made his way to that first. Something pulled at him to go there; he found an envelope laying on it that clearly held something small and round in it, his name, not title written across the front. He gave it a curious look, unsure who still lived that could possibly know that. He picked it up and placed it in his inner breast pocket to look at later. Rose walked up to him and laced her fingers in his with a smile.

'What do you think of everything, Doctor? Does it meet your approval?'

'So far, I'd say it's pretty...brilliant and headed in the right direction for a change.'

She smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, 'So what did you stuff in your jacket? Don't think I didn't notice you over here by yourself.'

'I'm not sure, but it's from someone who knows my name.'

'That could be anyone you've ever met...'

'No, Rose. I don't mean 'The Doctor', I'm talking about my birth name, the name only my parents and wife ever called me. My wife and parents have been dead for a long time now so there should not be a being alive that knows my real name.'

'I don't have any idea then.'

She looked down at their joined hands almost crestfallen, he noticed the look, surely he hadn't upset her.

'Why such a upset expression?'

'I'm not upset...' She gave him a smile, but it didn't take a genius to tell she was forcing it. He would let it go for now, but when they got home he was going to find out. 'We'd better get back to everyone, I think dad is about to brief everyone on where they are going to be stationed.'

While the others were still turned from them he pulled her behind a large piece of equipment just beside the walkway, she made only a soft noise in protest, but the second his lips touched hers she silenced. He held her face in both hands, her own sliding down to rest on his waist; the kiss only lasted for a few seconds, but to them it felt like blissful minutes. As he pulled back he took her hand and walked out and over to the others.

'Ah good, you've decided to join us,' Jackie said in her all knowing motherly voice making Rose roll her eyes.

'Now, as for where everyone will be stationed starting Monday: Jackie, you will be in charge of level one; Donna, you will be head of level two. Martha, you will be in charge of level five; Sarah Jane, you have level four; Rose, you have level six. I will oversee levels eight and nine; and Doctor, you of course have level ten. I have a few people that can be trusted from the old establishment for each level except ten, that will be strictly up to you if you want a crew up here with you.' Pete looked at each person in turn as he said their areas. 'Jackie, you can oversee the hiring for level one, they will be the most basic level with zero to minimal knowledge of what really lies within these walls. Donna, you will oversee the hiring for level two as well as any advancement from level one; most everyone who gets hired will eventually come to learn what this facility is really about, and will be trained to the new ideas towards dealing with intergalactic forces.'

'Well, now that we have covered all that, how about we go get some supper, I made reservations for all of us at Chateu's, and we need to be there in forty-five minutes,' Jackie said looking at the little watch on her wrist.

'Mum, it'll take us at least an hour to get there.'

'Then, I suggest you drive fast.'

They all went back down the elevator, the Doctor pulling Rose back as he called to Pete that they would catch up to them downstairs. Rose looked at him curiously, but he just gave her a small smile and waited for the elevator doors to close.

'Rose, I know something is bothering you, and I want you to know that you can tell me anything.'

'I'm fine.'

'No, you're not, you can't lie to me,' he gently took her chin between his thumb and fingers so she would look him directly in the eyes. 'When we get home I want to know what you are really thinking about, I don't like it when you bottle everything up from me like you are doing now. Promise me that you'll tell me what's really going on?'

'Promise.' She smiled weakly, why she thought she could hide the hurt from him she had no idea.

After dinner everyone said their goodbyes, hugging one another once more then getting in their respected cars. Rose and the Doctor were the last to pull out of the restaurant's parking lot following Pete's jeep for a little ways before pulling off to the right to go into the city further. The building where Rose's condo resided loomed up ahead of them soon after they had turned off, from the outside it looked like a posh place to live, but once they actually got up to her home he soon realized that condo was an understatement to what she really had. It was more like a one level house at the top of another building, there were three bedrooms, two of which had their own bathrooms and the third was made into a office. The kitchen and living room ran into one another, only separated by bar counter and stools. One whole wall was just a giant window that looked out over the city, the lights glittering brilliantly into the living room. There was a balcony, not overly large, but quite a decent size compared to some he'd seen. She gave a little laugh at his expression and couldn't help herself...

'It's bigger on the inside, right?'

'Quite right.' He gave her a grin that reminded her of all the times in the TARDIS when he would find a place that got him excited.

'Since I couldn't be with you on the TARDIS I made a point to find a home that would make up for not being there, and this building was designed to hide how big the homes in it really are.'

'It's such a clever idea, and this place fits you to the T, Miss Tyler.' He walked around the layout, taking in everything. There were a few pictures placed strategically around the rooms, a few of them were of Rose and him before and after his regeneration. He remembered each of the moments when the pictures were taken. Turning back to her his expression becoming serious, 'Now Rose, you had better spill what has been on your mind.'

'It's nothing, I promise.'

'Again, you can't lie to me, I've known you too long and spent well enough time with you to have figured out when you are not telling me something and when you are not ok, and you are doing both right now. What have I done that has you all upset?'

'You didn't do anything...' she bit her lip as she looked at him warily. 'I just didn't realize you'd been married before...I got jealous I guess.'

'Oh Rose, I'm...well, my other me technically...but I'm over 900 years old, did it really seem such a shock that I would have been married in such a long time? I've mentioned having a family before to you, back on the TARDIS. Remember, it was when we helped that little girl, AHHH, CLOE! Yes, that little girl Cloe and her mum.'

'I remember, but you told me you had been a dad before.'

'Well, they had to have mum too don't ya think?'

'Doesn't mean you were married to her though.'

He looked at her thoughtfully, closing the distance between them slowly, 'Does it bother you that I was married to someone?'

'No, it just took me by surprise that's all.'

He finally stood only a foot from her and took her hands in his bringing them up to his face to kiss the knuckles making her blush a lovely shade of pink.

'Good, because that was a very long time ago, and they were lost to me in the Time War, and when you have no one left to hold on to you start looking for someone new to fill the void. I've had many companions throughout my life, but you Rose Tyler, you are the only one I've seen myself wanting to spend eternity with, and now with this human body I can truly do that. I wouldn't have to watch you grow old while I stay young and regenerate and end up out living the only woman I've loved since the War ended leaving me alone. I love you more than life itself, Rose, and if you'll let me I'd like to live the rest of this life with you.'

She broke her hands from his hold and wrapped her arms around his torso burying her head in his chest, his arms came to hold her tightly to him and she hoped he would always do that, she breathed in deeply memorizing his scent. How she loved this man, he was definitely the man she'd travelled with just in a more convenient body now, the universe was set right again...well almost anyways.

'I love you too, you know.' She gave him her flirtatious smile, her tongue poking slightly out from between her teeth.

'I believe I may know that, but it's good to be told every once in a while.'

They spent the rest of the evening curled up on the sofa in front of a giant fireplace that roared with an almost infinite life that left the room feeling peaceful and lulling them into sleepiness. Finally, she pulled her head from his shoulder and her body from the couch, she pulled at his arm to get him to follow her to the bedroom so they could go to sleep. He followed without hesitation, locking his hand with hers as they walked.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Sunday FunDay**

Morning sunlight streamed into the room through a small crack in the blue curtains waking him from his peaceful slumber, he could hear music playing from the other side of the door as well as her voice singing whatever song was playing. He just listened to her for just a moment before getting up and walking to the door. Another song starting as he went out into the living room, he made his way to the end of the bar and watched as she swayed her hips to the music and sang along.

'I been thinkin' 'bout our love situation  
All this attraction in the present tense  
I've reached the only logical conclusion  
Love ain't supposed to make sense

This ain't no thinkin` thing, right brain, left brain  
It goes a little deeper than that  
It's a chemical, physical, emotional devotion  
Passion that we can't hold back  
There's nothin` that we need to analyze  
There ain't no rhyme or reason why  
'Cause this ain't, this ain't no thinkin` thing

Forget mathematical equations  
Self help psychology  
Gray matter don't matter much darlin`  
When it's gettin` down to you and me

This ain't no thinkin` thing, right brain, left brain  
It goes a little deeper than that  
It's a chemical, physical, emotional devotion  
Passion that we can't hold back  
There's nothin` that we need to analyze  
There ain't no rhyme or reason why  
'Cause this ain't, this ain't no thinkin` thing

There's nothing that we need to analyze  
There ain't no rhyme or reason why  
'Cause this ain't, this ain't no thinkin` thing  
This ain't, no this ain't no thinkin` thing.'

She had woken up feeling better than she had in a long time. She decided to make a real breakfast for them as she was sure he hadn't a real home-cooked meal in forever. She turned on some music and began to dance and sing while she got things prepared. When she got pulled into a parallel world originally she'd stumbled across some American country music, and at the moment one of her favorite songs was playing through the sound system. She swayed her hips back and forth to the beat. As she twirled she caught sight of the Doctor watching her by the bar, she came to an abrupt stop, blushing bright pink as he gave a small laugh at her antics; he came up to her and began to dance with her. They didn't use fluid movements, but jerky steps that somehow still kept in time to the song. As they came in line with the stove she paused them long enough to stir the eggs and flip the sausage. He twirled her back to him then dipped her as the song ended.

'Good morning, Doctor.'

'And to you, my dear.' He gave her a big smile. 'Do you remember the first time we danced together?'

'How could I forget, there were German air bombs exploding all around the TARDIS, 1941, when we first met Captain Jack Harkness. I was wearing my London flag shirt, and you were still wearing your leather jacket. We were dancing around the console as you told Jack to hurry up and close the TARDIS doors before the destruction of his ship created a draft.'

'Wow, your memory works really well.'

'Well, it was one of my favorite moments with you.' They shared a brief moment of silence replaying the memory in their heads. 'You're actually a good dancer when you really try.'

'You didn't enjoy our little dance just then?'

'No, I did, but that's us being silly.'

'Best thing to be, makes life a whole lot more interesting. I refuse to live out this life as a boring human.'

'Oi! Watch it, Spaceman, that body of yours is human this time, and let's not forget I've always been one. We are not all boring.'

She pulled the food from the stove and portioned it onto two plates, got some silverware for them, then took everything over to the dining table so they could sit down. Every now and then he would make a noise of appreciation after a bite effectively making her giggle.

'This is absolutely exquisite, Rose, you just have no idea.'

'It's just eggs and bacon with a bit of toast, very average breakfast 'round these parts.'

'Well, see there's why it's so good, I'm not technically from these parts, and a beautiful woman even made it for me which makes it even more special.'

'Ok, fair point.'

While she was in the shower, he pulled out the envelope from his jacket and opened it. A small piece of quartz fell out and into his hand, he looked at it somewhat puzzled then fished out the piece of paper that was still tucked inside.

_/This is a piece of the TARDIS, it will allow you to grow an offspring from the original. The ship will take a couple of years to completely form, but it will have access to any information to my ship previous to it being taken out. It always seemed the universe wanted Rose and the Doctor to be together exploring the other worlds in space and time inside the TARDIS. Now, since it can no longer be me that can share that experience with her, I give this final gift to you so you can take my place. I have instructed my ship to install the nano genes into yours in case you two humans get seriously hurt. Take care of her./_

He laughed at himself, of course the only person who would know his name would be himself. He tucked the quartz into his jacket pocket again along with the letter. He would surprise her with the young TARDIS once it was fully grown.

'I'm all done with the shower if you want to take one; not sure still what you want to do for sleeping arrangements so I just stuck everything in my room.' Rose came into the room towel drying her long blonde hair, she had a knee length silk robe wrapped around her; she looked at him expectantly.

Why was she leaving the choice to him, he was rubbish at this sort of thing. 'I...I think that should be up to you, after all this is your home.' He pulled at his ear feeling rather awkward around her at the moment, like some foolish teenage boy.

She sauntered over to him, her hips swaying in such a way he cursed this human body of his, at least as a full-blooded Time Lord he had had better control over his body's reactions to this minx of a woman before him, now he had to do everything possible not to jump up and take her to the bedroom, not that he thought she'd mind, but this was still new to them and such intimacy was too soon. She sat in his lap, her fingers stroking his sideburns softly as she gave him that smile she got when she was up to something; someone save him.

'The thing is, I've got quite used to having you sleeping next to me every night, so if you use the spare room, I think I might get lonely.'

'Do you realize what you are doing to me, woman?'

'I have no clue what you are on about.'

'Fibber...' She raised an eyebrow at his choice of word, even he gave a wary groan at how childish he just sounded by the use of it. 'That word will hopefully never pass my lips again...but you know exactly what I'm talking about, Rose Tyler.'

'Well, maybe I do a little,' she said with a laugh. 'Doesn't make what I said any less true.' She placed a chaste kiss on his lips quickly then got up from his lap. 'Come on, Sire John Smith, I'm gonna take you on a tour of London, you may know almost everything about the universe, but I bet you've never had a proper tour of modern day London.'

'Oddly enough, you are correct. Never stayed long enough to a reason to have a tour.'

'Well then, get up off your bum and get showered and dressed, then we'll get going.'

He did as he was told and semi-rushed to the bathroom in their bedroom. Rose went in to the bedroom and began to riff through the closet for something to wear, she pulled out a pair of faded jeans, a black tank, and then found a pale blue cardigan to put over her tank. She dug through some of the bags she'd bought yesterday, pulling out an outfit she'd gotten specially for the Doctor; a pair of jeans, a white undershirt, and a white long-sleeved button up shirt. She also pulled out a pair of trainers, then placed everything neatly on the bed for when he came out from the shower. She slipped her robe from around her shoulders and got properly dressed herself. She sat down at the small gold platted vanity and brushed her hair out then quickly blow-drying it. As she applied a small amount of eye makeup she heard the water shut off, about a minute following the door opened and he came out with only a towel draped around his hips. She couldn't stop the blush from staining her cheeks, he smirked at her reaction.

'There's you some clothes for today.'

'I don't remember getting these, they're not Pete's are they?'

'No, I bought them while you were trying on your suits, figured you'd need some normal clothes too. Just some stuff to wear maybe when we are not saving the world and just being regular humans.' She got up from the vanity and let him have some privacy to get dressed.

A few minutes later he walked out into the living room where she sat flipping through a magazine that had been laying on the coffee table, she looked up at him, her mouth dropping open and the magazine slipping from her fingers. Pulling his hands behind his back, he bounced on the heels of his feet then leaned his torso towards her with an expectant look on his face.

'Damn, it's a good thing you can't read my mind...Cassandra was right, as weird as that is to say.'

'And what exactly did Cassandra say about me?' He looked almost nervous.

'Oi! Like I'm going to tell you.'

'Well then, I won't tell you what she was doing while in your body.'

'Fine...' She looked back at him uncertainly, he was looking rather smug. She got up grabbing an over the shoulder purse and her keys, then shoved her phone in her pocket. 'You ready to go?'

'Yea, let's get out of here.'

As they walked out to the car she looked over at him, he didn't seem to notice it though; biting her lip she looked back forward and heard the words spill from her lips almost as if unchecked. 'She said you were "foxy", was actually feeling up on you while she said so.'

He couldn't help himself, the laugh just sort of slipped out, she looked at him as if he was actually laughing at her, but he shook his head apologetically. 'Sorry, just the thought that Cassandra actually liked my appearance is quite funny. So she thought I was foxy huh? Do you agree with her?'

'Don't be so vain, mister...and fair is fair I told you what she said now you tell me what she was doing as me, I am not answering anything till you tell me that.'

'Quite right, well she sorta snogged me. That's when I started getting suspicious that they had done something to your head, but brushed it away until we found the people that the Sisters were harvesting below the hospital. That's when I knew something was wrong, accused the Sisters of experimenting on you before Cassandra finally revealed that she'd taken control of your body.'

'Snogged you...that's it? You had me thinking it was something more than _that_.' She pinned him with a pointed glare as he chuckled at her thought process. 'And I wouldn't say foxy either, handsome yes, but not foxy...sounds whorish.'

They drove to the downtown area of London and parked, walking around she pointed out all the cool little shops, explained some of the weekly events that would go on down certain streets; she even pointed out the major landmarks though she didn't really take time to give a history lesson on them unless he asked about them. There was a little jazz band playing in one of the plazas they walked through; he grabbed her hand tightly then spun her into a quirky little dance causing most of the people passing to look at them oddly and even got a few other couples to join with them. She couldn't help but giggle at how silly they must look, and at how much fun she was having. After a while she admitted she was starting to feel her feet go numb, and suggested they get some lunch then finish their tour. She threw a few bills in the band's pot then waved them bye.

* * *

They returned to the apartment about the same time as the sun was halfway back below the horizon; as the door swung open he came in with her laughing heartily from her perch on his back, he was singing some song from a cartoon musical that had been playing on one of the tellys in a shop earlier. The ridiculousness of him actually singing it had her laughing without a care. She hopped off him once inside and closed the door all the way and clicked the lock into place. As she finally found herself able to breathe properly again after laughing so much she walked to the kitchen o start on supper for them. He watched as she worked, humming to herself as she flitted from one spot to the next, he would need to learn how to cook so she wasn't the only one having to fix their meals, he'd swallow his pride and ask Jackie tomorrow and surprise Rose one day when he knew enough to make a proper meal. He walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers playing with the hem of her shirt, he nuzzled his face in her neck and placed a kiss in the curve. She gave a moan of appreciation making him smile against her soft skin. He would do that all night if he could just to hear her make that sound again for him.

Laying in bed that night he watched her sleep peacefully beside him as he gently stroked the arm that rested beside her head, turning onto his back he pulled out the small piece of quartz and held it up to the beam of moonlight, it glittered in the light, it's own inner light dimly shining. As she shifter closer to him that inner light began to shine even brighter, he mentally laughed at the growing TARDIS, ever since she'd saved him on Satellite 5 by absorbing the Time Vortex into her body and using it to destroy the Daleks on board his ship had treated her in a manner it only did for its respected Time Lord. The TARDIS had shown Rose things it had never shown to any of his other companions. He'd started to notice a distinct humming coming from the ship's core every time she came through the doors, as if it were saying hello to her. He tucked the glowing quartz back safely out of sight. He would keep it here for a few weeks while he tried to build an environment where it could grow on its own. He would have to find a way to connect the environment to Rose's area at Torchwood so the TARDIS could always hear and feel her without actually giving away the surprise when it was finished growing. He turned back onto his side and pulled Rose's form closer to his and fell to sleep himself, his breathing slowly coming in time with her own.


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Sorry loverlies that it has been so long since I've uploaded anything...been working literally and working hard on this chapter...it's a super special one for me. Hope you all like it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**For a refresher, I still do not own any of the characters, or any quotes, plot lines form the show. **

* * *

**Chapter 7: As Time Flies By**

**-One Month Later-**

Rose took the elevator up to the top floor from the third carrying a plastic wrapped sandwich for the Doctor, he would forget sometimes that he needed to take a few moments to eat while they were working and it was becoming more and more often now that he was working on this secret project in the very last room on his floor. She had tried not to give in to the need to know what he was up to, but finally today it had just gotten too much. The elevator came to a smooth stop, she got off then walked through the lobby into the lab behind it, she called out for him as she walked past several experiments he was working on, no reply so she walked to the back door that led to the hallway lined with four doors down each side leading to eight private labs, accessible only by his single key. This was a new addition of his as well, intercoms outside each door. These also provided a green light when the room was occupied, she followed the doors until she found the occupied room, she pressed the call button...

'Doctor, you do know these are not living quarters, but labs for testing things that fall into our custody?'

A small laugh could be heard through the speaker, 'I'm offended you'd think I'd give up my side of the bed for a lab?' There was a few seconds of silence on his end. 'I'll be out in a minute.'

Giving an affirmative she released the button and stepped to the side of the door and waited. Shortly after he slid the door open and joined her in the hallway. Leaning down he kissed her on the cheek, she held out the wrapped sandwich to him.

'I missed lunch again, I suppose.'

'Just a bit, but I thought I'd sneak up here to see you and bring you a bite.'

'What would I do without you. Come on let's go sit up front, much more cozy up there.' He took her hand with his and led them back through the main lab. 'So what juicy gossip did I miss today?'

'Surprisingly, none, Donna went out to a diner in town to have lunch with her boyfriend. And Mum and Pete sat off by themselves, Sarah Jane was on the phone with Luke for most of her break, and Martha said she was gonna eat later. So nothing to report to ya, Sir General.'

'I'm sorry I left ya by yourself, but it's nice to have some time alone with you since I've been working late with Pete so often lately.'

'What is it the two of you are working on back there so secretively anyways?'

'Well, we are working on an artificial environment for outer space life forms that start forming in an environment similar to Earth, but move past our atmosphere to finish their formation. The second part is pretty complicated, even for me.'

'What sort of life forms grow in such a way?'

'Oh well, there are a handful, but they'd be pretty hard to find from Earth. And some wouldn't even make it safely from space to the Earth's ground. I just want to see if it was possible to create such a place here on Earth.' He unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite, hoping she'd be good with the answer he'd left her with. Sometimes dodging her questions was easier said than done. She looked to be thinking his response over then gave a small shrug and he mentally gave a sigh of relief. It was hard enough to keep secrets from her like this without her asking questions. 'I'll be home tonight though, going to leave a bit early, because I have a surprise for you at home.'

'Oh, and what kind of surprise is this?'

'Well, if I told you it wouldn't be much of a surprise now would it?'

She gave him a pout which only made him laugh thus leading to a slap on the arm. He got himself under enough control to only have a mischievous grin on his face. She laid her head on his shoulder, she knew it was time to get back to work, but the idea of leaving his side was like tearing off a piece of her heart. Alas, she pulled herself up and gave him a kiss on the cheek as well then went back down to her floor.

He took the elevator all the way down about two hours before Rose would be heading home, Jackie greeted him on the first floor as she pulled her purse over her shoulder. They went out to her little sedan, she was going to help him slightly while Rose was still at work. He hadn't wanted to risk messing this up so he'd gone back to her again and asked if she would just oversee everything, she said she would, but would leave before her daughter had time to get home. She took him to the apartment, told him to go clean up himself and the apartment, and that she would be back in about thirty minutes with the things they would need for the meal he wanted to make. As he hurried inside she drove off; he showered quickly and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. Going into the kitchen and dining room area he found two placemats and put them at the two spots on the table, next he pulled down two plates and two sets of silverware. Those went on to the table; he pulled down two wine glasses and set them slightly about the plates. Next he washed and dried the bowls from their cereal that morning then put them away in the cupboard. By this time Jackie was ringing the apartment door, he went and opened it for her, she carried in four bags from the market around the corner. Fresh cut filet mingion from the butcher, fresh, un-canned veggies, a loaf of Italian bread, and the ingredients to make a lemon cream sauce to spread over their meat. Last but not least a bottle of Resiling, which he immediately stuck in the freezer to chill much faster. They go to work, she spouting out instructions to him, but not touching anything to ensure everything was done by his hands alone.

As the thirty minute mark hit before Rose would be home, Jackie told him the last bit of instruction he would need t know to finish up the meal and reminded him to take the wind from the freezer and just keep it in the fridge until she got home then keep it cool in the wine chiller after he poured the first glass. She kissed him on the cheek then hurried out the door.

He took the loaf of bread and sliced four pieces off and put some butter on it and sprinkled a little garlic powder and finely chopped parsley on each piece, then set them aside on a cookie sheet till right before the rest of the meal was done. He started cleaning and putting away the dirty dishes he'd used while preparing everything; at the ten minute mark he shut off the oven and stove, sticking the bread in the oven on the second rack. Going into the living room he turned on some music and let it play softly throughout the apartment. Back in the kitchen he pulled the bread, now slightly toasted, from the oven.

Hearing the front door click open announcing her arrival home, he stepped into her line of sight as she was putting her purse and keys down.

'Something smells wonderful in here.'

'I thought I'd make us some supper,' he watched a smile slowly spread over her lips. 'It's just now ready if you're hungry.'

'Let me go wash up then we can eat.' She disappeared into their room and returning only a couple minutes later. 'Alright, I'm ready to find out what that delicious smell is, because it is mouth watering.'

Leading her to the table he pulled out her chair before seating himself. She looked over everything excitably.

-Two Months Later-

'Aha! Finally!'

He wizzed around the room like a child after too much candy. Pete and Rose eyeballing him like he'd lost his marbles, which vaguely they believed after seeing that he had built a pond and garden into the room, unsure of what its purpose was really all about. As he looked back at them his excited expression fell.

'What? Don't you find it absolutely spectacular?'

'Oh yes, yes...it's just, what are you going to do with a room like this?' Rose questioned as she continued to look around the room's new features in utter wonder.

'I told you, there are several life forms that require duel environments to grown and mature, but obviously not anywhere near the Earth, but think if one happened to come here, we have a safe secure place for it to live.'

'Well, either way it is an impressive room, Doctor. Can't believe you've been keeping this secret so well from Rose, she's entirely too persistent for her own good.' The Doctor nodded his head in agreement earning himself along side with Pete a glare from the young blonde woman. 'Oh don't give us that look, Rose, you know it's true.'

They had already given in and told her that he hadn't really been staying late with Pete, but really going over to the Tyler Mansion to get cooking lessons from Jackie. Rose had gotten a good laugh in when he explained it as swallowing his pride to ask her mother for help earning himself a pop on the back of the head from the other Tyler woman. Though while she may have laughed she also thought it was very sweet, and made sure to tell him so.

He waited till she'd gone into the bathroom to shower before moving the TARDIS pod, now the size of a football, down to the car. Going in and out of the apartment very quietly. Pete was right, keeping secret s like this from her was no easy task and it got harder as each day passed. He couldn't wait till he could show her the surprise.

**-One Year Later-**

'So when are you going to ask her?' Donna was being overly nosey, she knew, but this was really exciting and the fact that he asked her and Martha to help him pick out the perfect ring made it even more excitable to her.

'Hopefully soon, I'm going to hold off until my real surprise is ready for her.'

'So what _is_ this other surprise that you have for her? It must be pretty spectacular if you have to wait for it.' Martha arched a perfectly shaped brow at him.

'Can't tell you either because it's pretty much a surprise for everyone...don't worry, I am almost certain it'll be ready within the month.'

'Doctor, look at this one,' Donna called over her shoulder effectively bringing over the other two back to the glass case. 'The princess cut, 1.5 karat diamond, yellow gold band...'

'Hmmm...while very pretty I don't think that's really her style.' He walked between each case examining all the rings carefully. It was the second to last case where he saw it, something inside him just screamed at him that the ring before him was the One he was meant to buy. 'Martha, Donna, come here and look at this one here. I think it's perfect.'

They walked over to where he stood, each gave a small gasp; the ring was on a titanium band, a quarter-inch perfectly square shaped sapphire of the most brilliant royal blue, tilted on the band to mirror the image of a star. There were tiny diamonds connected to each of the four points and having the same brilliance as the sapphire, that the ring gave the illusion of twinkling. The sales assistant walked over to them after noticing how engrossed the three were at the Sapphire Collection.

'Would you ladies like to try any of our Sapphire Collection on, no one has paid much attention to this case quite as much as you have.'

'No, thank you, but I think he may want to purchase this one for his girlfriend,' Martha said, the Doctor nodding curtly in response.

The lady unlocked the glass case and grabbed the ring's display and moved it to the top of the counter for closer inspection. He pulled the ring off the display, examining the stone's clarity more closely by placing an eye spyglass against his eye; the lady was giving him a strange look as Donna and Martha giggled at the lady's reaction. They simultaneously tried to explain...

'He always does this...' They laughed quietly to themselves.

'It's best to just let him do his thing, he tends to know what he is doing as unqualified as he looks,' Donna said matter-of-fact.

'Hey, that's just a bit rude for a temp from Cheswick!'

'This is normal too,' Martha cut in quickly making them snap their mouths closed. 'So, what do you think of the ring? Is it the one?'

'I do believe it is, after weeks of searching I do believe I found the perfect ring, literally...see I knew it was fate that I'd find it with the two of you ladies to help me. Bloody brilliant good luck charms these two.' He handed the ring back to the sales assistant. 'I'd like this one please.'

The lady motioned them to follow her to the back counter to properly box and pay for the ring. 'That will be 2,310 Euros, Sir. Would you like it to be wrapped as well as boxed?'

'Just the box will be fine.' Both Donna and Martha nudged him in the arms as the lady took his money. 'Thank you.'

The little half glance half glares went away and smiles returned to their faces. The lady handed over the boxed ring and his change; smiling he turned and left the store, his two companions following suit. He did hope they could keep this to themselves, they were the only ones who knew about this so far though it seemed everyone that knew them had the idea that it would be inevitable that a proposal would happen eventually. He didn't like the idea of being a git as Jackie so fondly termed males who waited for the woman to propose, stating rather dramatically how unromantic that was. He knew she believed he didn't pay her one mind, but when it came to making Rose happy he was all ears. Already a plan on how to "pop the question" began to formulate in his mind.

**-5 Months Later-**

'Ok Pete, I have a surprise to show everybody and I was wondering if you could help me gather everyone up here on my floor...except Rose...I'm going to show her a little later.'

'Yea sure, I'll get them up there as quickly as I can, and send Rose out for lunch, that should keep her occupied for a while.' Pete shut down the intercom for the Doctors floor and called down to Rose's station. 'Rose, are you busy?'

'I'm just finishing the repairs to the galactic blaster, something wrong?'

'No, was just curious if you would like to go get lunch for everyone, seems like our eclectic family hasn't eaten as one big group in a while.'

'I 'spose I could do that, give me half an hour to finish up.'

'Thank you, come up and I'll give you my card. Everyone's lunch will be on me.' Getting her affirmative he quickly paged everyone else and got their lunch orders for a local five star diner. When Rose arrived shortly after he handed her the sheet with everything on it and his credit card. Told her to phone when she was almost back and he'd come help her bring it up to the cafeteria. She left his office quickly and he moved to the window to wait and make sure when she left so as not to get caught telling the others about the surprise the Doctor had for them. That would be one experience he never wished to have with his daughter. She was very different from her mother, but at the same time she was very much the same, especially where her temper was concerned. As a shiver ran up his back he saw her climb into her car and pull out, going back to his desk he began to call everyone up to the Doctors floor. They were all asking what it was all about, but he only said that it was a surprise.

Just minutes later all but Rose were conversing in the lobby of the upmost level of the Torchwood establishment. Finally, he emerged from one of the back rooms, he gave them all a cheesy grin, the one that meant he was up to something making them wonder if they should be worried or not. He indicated for them to follow him back down to the back room he'd just came from.

'Doctor, what is this all about?' Donna groaned, not liking surprises.

'Just wait...'

'He won't tell you anything until he is ready, even if he should because it could keep you from giving valuable information to the enemy that could accidently bring the destruction of the Earth into an equation.' Sarah Jane gave him a pointed look as everybody else nodded in agreement.

'Oi, if I told you every little thing that is going on in my head your brain would explode...'

'I didn't say everything, just the need to know on current crisis's. There is a difference, especially with Time Lords.' She remarked with a smirk. She enjoyed getting him all flustered.

'Anywho...I have a special surprise for all of you, but you have to promise not to let Rose know about it just yet. It's still trying to finish its growth, probably take another month. I want it to be done when I show her.'

'Oh just show us already!' Jackie said impatiently.

Typing in the code for the door lock, a click sounded and he slid the door open and motioned for them to go inside. As everyone shuffled in he rested himself against the door frame and waited. It took only half a moment and a collective group of gasps filled the room, his smug grin now taking up residence on his face. He enjoyed blowing people's minds, this was the best one yet.

'So realistic...' Jackie said walking towards it. 'Your memory is very good, Doctor, even got the sign right.'

'Wait, what?' His face scrunched up in confusion and disbelief, he went to move forward but only managed to stumble a step. 'I didn't build it! That's the real deal.'

'Oh be serious, Doctor, where did you find a "real" TARDIS in a universe that has no Time Lords?' Donna said mockingly. 'They don't exist in this universe.'

'Donna, I'm not originally from this universe if you'll remember...and I'm half Time Lord half human, an exact, well almost exact copy of the Doctor in the other universe. And when he left us here he also managed to get into Torchwood and leave a baby TARDIS seed. Now, it takes two types of atmospheres for a TARDIS to fully grow, they are not built, they produce a seed when they sense their death...'

'You say that as if they are living, breathing things,' Pete said.

'They are, well, they are living anyways, don't have lungs to actually breathe. But my point is, my original form left me the seed to the original TARDIS that you all know. I built this special lab to grow a fully functioning ship that can and will travel time and space.'

'And you don't want Rose to know about it?' Jackie crossed her arms over her chest. 'After all she's done for you.'

'I swear you purposefully tune me out, Jackie...it hurts me to know you think I'd not share this with Rose. I just want to wait till everything is finished, it is going to be part of an extra special surprise for her when the ship is complete.'

'What do you mean finish, it looks ready to fly.' Donna's granddad spoke up.

'Externally, yes it is fly ready, but the TARDIS main frame, brain if you will, is still processing.'

'It has a brain?'

'Well, it's more like a computer...and it is still downloading all the information it needs to be operable. And when it's done I'm going to take everyone on a special trip.'

'And 'spose Rose doesn't want to go time travelling again, what will you do then?' Martha said, her eyes curious of what the adventurous man before her would do if the woman he loved refused to get back on board with him. She had no real doubts on the subject, but it would be wise for him to be prepared for her to turn the idea down. 'I don't want to dampen your feelings about it, I just think you should also be ready for her to say no as well as when do we leave.'

Everyone snickered at that last bit.

'I suppose I'll lock her until she's needed. But hopefully that's not the case because there is still so much out there to discover.'

Just then Pete's phone went off, 'It's Rose, she just pulled in the lot, I need t go help her, the rest of you meet us in the cafeteria.'

'What took you so long?' Rose said as he walked out the front entrance.

'Apologies, was consulting with the Doctor on an idea for a new craft that would have the ability to become invisible.'

'And what did he say?' She handed him two bags and taking two more out for herself then shutting the door.

'Said it was too stealthy for his liking'

'Sounds like him, he always did like to make an entrance. I mean when he took me to the last day of Earth before he regenerated into the git we see every day, people were gathering and giving gifts to him and his idea of a gift was breath from his lungs.'

Pete outright laughed, the man upstairs was just weird enough that he could see him doing just that. Then another thought struck him, 'What was his other form like?'

'Angry...and lonely...it's one of the reasons I ran off with him, he just needed someone to make him believe in the point of life again. All that anger he held at the universe made him reckless at times. He was forced to regenerate because of me, I absorbed the Time Vortex from the heart of the TARDIS just so I could find and save him from the Daleks. He had to pull it into himself so I wouldn't burn up from the power running through me.'

They entered the elevator to go up.

'So, he was a good guy even with all the anger?'

'He had his bad moments, when I thought he was the one being the monster, but at the end of the day he was the good guy.'

'The elevator came to a stop and they exited joining everyone else in the cafeteria.

**-One Month Later-**

She wondered what could be so important that she had to stop her whole experiment to go up to his floor. Her work was just as important as his, and right now she was trying to find a way of disarming an alien war gun that she'd personally pried from the creatures hands after Martha shot it in the leg, and Sarah Jane had stunned it with a special taser they'd put together. The alien hadn't been keen on giving up its weapon even after all the stuff they'd done to get it down on the ground...the bugger still fought like hell, had dug it's claws into her side leaving her with five nasty gashes. She'd managed to keep them hidden from the Doctor over the last couple of days, she didn't want him hovering over her the whole time she had the injury...she knew he meant well, but the human Doctor couldn't shove her into a medical bay and uncap a vile of nanogenes that Jack had given him and quickly have her better, h had to wait, and it made him crazy like a mother hen. The elevator came to a stop, doors opening to a quiet lobby. Her eyebrow rose in question, he usually came and met her up front...this was unexpected. She walked into the main lab, nobody in there either, maybe the "secret lab" as she began calling it. Maybe now she'd finally find out what he was hiding in there, he'd somehow managed to keep it from her for the past year and that just bugged her to death. She typed in the code that allowed her access to the back hallway, as the door opened she was taken back at seeing everyone lined up along the wall, well everyone but him...as she passed each person they handed her a pink rose, Pete was the last person to hand her one and with it he handed over a slip of paper with a code on it and indicated for her to go to the last lab. Reaching the door she looked back at everyone in the hall, they were all smiling in the way that just screamed "I know something you don't know", looking back at the door she typed in the code and the door clicked and slid open...

He was nervous, more nervous than the first time he'd done this, he bounced up off the ground slightly to release a bit of this jittery energy that was running rampant inside him. Over the intercom he had heard the irritation at being pulled away from the delicate job she was currently working on, so he hoped this would disperse that. Looking at the door he let out the breath he just realized he'd been holding, she would be here any moment. The monitor flicked to life by the door indicating Rose had entered the hallway. This was it...

As the door slid open she walked inside, her mouth suddenly falling open, there were no words she could bring forth as she slowly and somewhat unsteadily made her way forward...it was impossible, but surely her eyes weren't deceiving her? She closed them and pinched her arm for extra measure, but as she opened them back up it still stood there with its fresh painted panels. It looked the same as the first day she'd seen it...well more new version of the one she remembered everyday as she woke up. The TARDIS, in all of its blue glory stood before her, she ran her hand over the wood affectionately, a smile forming on her face...she grabbed the handle and opened the door.

The silence was unnerving, he knew it had only been a few moments since she entered the hallway, but it suddenly felt like hours...he almost wished he'd done these separately so he could savor her reaction to seeing the TARDIS; suddenly the door swung open jolting him back to his surroundings.

They stood before one another in a sort of stunned silence, her eyes with his only for a few seconds then looking skyward and around the rest of the room, slowly going around the console. He couldn't help the smirk that crept onto his face; he pulled out the little blue velvet box and held it behind his back with both hands and rocked on his heels as she came back into view.

'H..how did you manage to build an exact replica of the TARDIS?'

'Didn't build it, more like grew it. That's what this room is for, the double atmosphere is how the TARDIS grows. It has taken about two years for the TARDIS to grow and mature. Well, I say mature, but I bet she is just as unpredictable as her mother was, almost never taking us where I told her to go.'

'Mother? This TARDIS is the child of the one I was travelling in with you for two years?'

'Yes, a good way to think of it is to understand the mind of the machine is somewhat psychic and can feel when it will be in almost unavoidable danger of being destroyed so she produces a seed as a form of regeneration.'

'So they regenerate?'

'In a way, usually a little less dramatic as say one of my regenerations though not to say she hasn't done so in the past. Anywho, something must be about to happen to the TARDIS over there, and my other self gave me the seed to grow in this universe.'

'But what about the one there? What will happen to it?'

'I've been cut off from that one ever since they left to go back across the rift. Worst case scenario my other self sacrificed everything by giving us this seed, or two good scenarios: the Mother of this one produced two seeds, rare, but has happened; or she is going to pull something really dramatic.' She only nodded in return. 'I do have two questions for you, Rose Tyler. First being, now that we have a fully functioning TARDIS, will you travel through space and time with me once again?'

'Absolutely, still too much to see and learn, and we have a whole new universe to explore.'

'And my other question, the most important question I've ever asked you...' She looked at him curiously as he moved closer to her leaving only a foot between them. 'Will you not only travel with me through all of time and space, but come with me as my wife?'

Shock, that was the expression he'd put that was currently written on her face, it was soon replaced with an overjoyed smile.

'Is there any other way to go?'

He grinned remembering when they'd landed in Britain during 1953 when Queen Elizabeth was having her coronation. Those words had came from her lips that day as well.

'Can't think of one good alternative.'

'Then I think you are stuck with me,' she held out her left hand, and he took the ring from its case and slipped it onto her finger, his slim fingers gently brushing hers as he pulled his back to himself. He leaned in to kiss her, but she paused him. 'See now I have something to give you too.'

She pulled a titanium band from her lab coat pocket, 'You see, I thought that I might have to do the asking, so I got you a band as well.'

He pulled her to him in a heartbeat but the clear cry of pain had him stopping his movements. 'What's wrong?'

Her hand rested on the one wrapped around her waist holding fast to her. He moved it and saw the blood beginning to seep through. He pushed aside her coat and lifted her shirt up revealing five gashes. She knew there was no getting around this now...

'The creature Martha, Sarah Jane and I dealt with the other day...he was quite stronger than we expected even after being shot and tased, I was having to pry the gun from his hand. That's how it got activated; but he got a hold of my side during the fight...'

'Yea, I can see that...'

'Don't get snarky with me, mister...'

'You're the one who refused to let the Doctor look at it.'

'Martha looked over the wounds when we got back.'

'Martha may be a licensed doctor, but she doesn't have nearly enough alien knowledge...your wounds are infected...' She pulled at her shirt to get a better view. 'You're in luck though,' he leaned over the console and pressed a button releasing a tiny group of nanogenes; they instantly healed the wounds until there were only light pink scarring marks that would fade in a few days.

'There, all better. Now, can I finally kiss my fiancé?'

'You may.' She grinned as his arms wrapped around her waist, she brought her arms around his neck pulling him down for a sweet yet somewhat passionate kiss.

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**Remember to review, but again please keep them polite, I like to hear people's opinions, but let's not be immature and rude at the same time. **

**Thanks, **

**Kerioke**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: The Drums End but the Bells Begin**

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She laid on her side facing his still sleeping form, she brushed a few stray locks of hair that had fallen into his face; it was getting rather shaggy. The soft movement stirred him to wakefulness, his eyes opening to stare at her and smiled sleepily at her. She returned the smile with her own, never stopping the caressing movement of her fingers.

'Good morning, sleepy head.'

'Morning, what are you doing up already, it's...eight in the morning?'

'I'm going shopping with mum, Donna, Martha and Sarah Jane today. Martha will be here at nine to pick me up.'

'What in the world are you going shopping for at nine in the morning? Is anything even open at that hour?'

'We are going to look for my wedding dress, have an appointment at nine-thirty. Can't be late or we will have to reschedule. That would be another few weeks, and the dress may not make it in before the wedding.'

'We have a time machine, I could take you back in time if you miss your appointment.'

'We agreed...no time travelling until after the wedding...we miss that because you got the date wrong by one digit my mother, Donna, and Martha more than likely gang up together and hurt you, Sarah Jane will probably be the only one who doesn't go after you just simply cause she knows how you can be. And let's top it off with the fact that I'll end up alone and overworked for the rest of my life.'

'Surely they'd realize it was an accident...they wouldn't murder me.'

'Well, maybe not Martha and Donna, they'd probably just torture you for a while, but my mum...let's be realistic, she's been waiting for this moment since the day she found out she was having a girl. She'd murder you and dispose of the body to a place not one person in the world would look.' The horrified look on his face indicated that he had a good mental picture of what Jackie Tyler would do to him. 'So no time travelling until after. Besides it will be easier to give everyone that trip you promised them.'

Burying his head in the pillow he groaned...he desperately wanted to get in the TARDIS and fly away. He tried to reassure himself that he only had three months left to go. Feeling her fingers brushing the hairs at the nape of his neck, he tried to suppress the shudder that raced across his body and looked up at her and her mischievous grin that clearly screamed she knew exactly what she was doing to him.

'Do you want some breakfast? I'm about to go make a bowl of oatmeal, I can whip you up something too if you're hungry.'

'Food does sound quite tempting at the moment. Plus, I have this feeling I won't be seeing you for most of the day. I intend to get every minute with you that I can.'

He got up out of bed and followed her into the kitchen where she began to pull out two bowls and the oatmeal. Within five minutes the steaming bowls were placed on the table with a side of fruit. They sat and ate in a comfortable silence, and only minutes later her cell went off via text letting her know her ride was waiting for her at the building entrance. She got up and put her dishes in the sink; she leaned down a kissed him on the cheek then rushed out the door. He walked out onto their patio and looked down to the car that Rose was climbing into, Martha looked up from the convertible and waved at him, he waved back knowing this was going to be one long day.

...

At the dress shop, Rose quickly found herself rolling her brown eyes at her mother's fussing with the lady helping them with all the dresses she was interested in trying on. Donna and Martha were doing everything they could not to laugh at her frustration. She glared at their half smirks, a look her mother caught and promptly told her that her face would stick that way if she wasn't careful. Jackie walked off before her daughter could make a snarky remark in return; returning a few minutes later with a dress in hand. She handed it to the lady to help Rose try on next. After a while both women emerged from the dressing room and Rose came to stand on a platform that rested in front of a very large three-sided mirror. Jackie made an awe-ing noise while Donna, Martha, and Sarah Jane made faces at the dress; Rose turned to the mirror and groaned.

'Oh Rose, you look so beautiful.'

'Seriously, mum...'

'Oh you look so much like my sister when she got married.'

'Yea, that was the 90's, Mum, much like the style of this dress...'

'Oh you are such a prude, Rose.'

'No, I just don't like this dress in the slightest bit, you're gonna have him jump in the TARDIS and fly off and never to come back for me.' Donna nodded vigorously beside Jackie, who just rolled her eyes and huffed dejectedly

'I'm going to take look around and see if I can't find something suitable. Or at least a little more appealing.' Martha said as she got up from her chair.

'I don't know what is wrong with you girls, it is a stunning dress.'

'Well, Mum, we have some more modern ideas of "stunning" then you, and frankly I want to go with my style of stunning. It is my wedding after all.'

'Donna...' Martha's voice sounded from across the small shop. 'Donna, come here.'

Donna got up from her spot leaving Jackie and Sarah Jane alone while Rose went into the dressing room to get the fluffy 90's monstrosity off of herself. Weaving in and out of the headless mannequins dressed in the purest whites until she found her friend who was staring open mouthed at a dress in the furthest and oddly most enclosed corner. She gave Martha an excited nod, they got the dress down, they then proceeded to grab several more dresses. Jackie eyed the two women and the bundle of dresses in their arms; noticing the suspicious look they were getting from the mother of the bride they quickly hushed their conversation. Sarah Jane gave a small smile; Rose peeked her head out and Martha handed her one of the dresses trying not to seem like she already knew Rose wasn't going to like the dress. A couple minutes later the blonde girl stepped out with an eyebrow raised in a way that screamed "Really? This is what you call appealing?" This went on for the next several dresses until they were down to the last two and Rose was almost terrified to try on anything else. Martha and Donna were blushing furiously, Rose thinking or more so hoping from shame, but as each dress came out for show the two girls had o desperately keep themselves from laughing at their private joke. Sarah Jane kept quiet during the duration of the eclectic fashion show.

'Well, at least this one makes me look like I have some class...' She stepped out of the changing room. The dress she had on was stunning, but more on the old fashioned side.

The whole top layer was a thick layer of lace, pure white in color, it fell off the shoulders just slightly and had long sleeves also made of lace, these were however a more delicate lace. It hugged her figure nicely and fell to the floor with a very small train. The front collar swooped modestly with a wide oval shape.

'Oh Rose, you look stunning...' Jackie was almost speechless.

'I agree with, Jackie, you look very stunning.' Sarah Jane spoke in her motherly tone.

'It is lovely, but I still don't feel like this is the dress I'm meant to walk down the aisle in. I'm starting to feel like there isn't a dress that is simply going to be The One.'

'Don't you have another one in there that Martha picked out?' Donna didn't like where the conversation was headed so decided to intervene. 'And besides, if the dress isn't here there are other dress shops we can go to around London. So don't be talking about giving up just yet.'

'You're right, Donna, I'm just very tired of trying them on only to be disappointed. This was supposed to be simple.'

'Simple? Where have you been living? The finding of the perfect wedding dress is one of the hardest things you do, especially with expectations like yours...' Donna started until Sarah Jane placed a hand on her arm.

'What Donna is really trying to say is, you've travelled to so many different places and seen so many different styles that everything else just can't measure up. The styles you have seen in all the different cultures was bound to have some influence on how you dress and live your everyday life. I know because I've been in your place too, and I am certain that we are going to find you the perfect dress, even if it isn't today, we will find one. Heck, if it really comes down to it, I am sure we can get one personally designed for you.' Sarah Jane gave the young blonde a warm smile.

While Sarah Jane was talking to Rose, Martha nudged the ginger-haired girl in the ribs, only to be given a "what was I supposed to say" look back. Rose seeing the exchange "ahemed" them after the other woman had finished talking. An eyebrow arched letting them know that she knew they were up to something that concerned her. They became very still hoping she'd let their secretiveness slid at the moment, and after a few tense moments she did and they visibly relaxed. Rose sighed as she looked in the mirror silently deciding to put the dress she had on to the so far empty maybe list. Going back into the small cubical the assistant helped her take off the dress and slip on the last remaining one.

'What are the two of you up to? Trying to pretend that the rest of us can't see that you are clearly up to no good," Jackie said quietly so Rose wouldn't overhear.

'We are not up to anything, you just have an over imaginative mind in that department.' Donna said hotly.

'No, I don't, the three of you girls are the Queens of Trouble, all flying off with that Doctor when we lived in the parallel world...chasing monsters in both like a bunch of hooligans.'

'Does that make me a hooligan too, Jackie? I was also the Doctor's companion over there too.' Sarah Jane had a small smile on her lips, she was finding it amusing to tease Jackie.

'NO! No, that's not what I was saying...'

'Jackie, you do remember that Donna and I only have the memories of our other selves? We personally have never travelled in the Doctor's machine.'

'Same difference.'

Martha simply laughed at the older woman's logic, Jackie never liked being proven wrong even when it was so clear that she was.

'Hey, Rose, is everything ok in there? Does the dress fit properly?' Martha said finally taking notice that it was taking longer than usual to switch into another dress.

'No, I'm fine...it's just...perfect.'

She stepped out of the little room into the open, and everyone sucked in a breath.

'This is why you two were being so sly earlier. You planned to have this dress last.'

'Yea, but even we didn't expect it to be this beautiful on you. I mean officially my mind is blown,' Martha said.

The dress was a creamy ivory color, the bust was topped with a slightly darker shade of beaded lace then falling to silk and gauze materials and falling to the floor in two layers. The dress' train followed behind by two feet. The straps were about an inch wide and coming down in a wide oval shape that continued to the back of the dress. It also featured a keyhole back which continued a little lower than the bust level of the dress, but the beads continued to frame the design, as well as swirled down the back of the dress on the hem all the way to the floor. The dress hugged her curves tastefully and delicately. Rose looked over to her mother who was suddenly speechless and teary eyed at the sight her daughter made, it was then that Rose knew this was the dress she wanted. She looked to the sales lady and nodded an affirmative on the purchase since words were currently too hard to form. The lady smiled and then led her back into the dressing room to get out of the dress after she determined what alterations would be needed and marking them down on a slip of paper clipped onto her clipboard.

As Rose reappeared from the little room the other four stood from their chairs; they walked around the store looking at veils and other hair accessories, shoes, and gloves. Jackie gushed about gloves, however her daughter made the point that the gloves would have to be just hand gloves and therefore would be pointless since the bouquet she was getting would cover them up. She didn't want a long veil or one that would cover up the back of her dress, and the birdcage veils just didn't suit the dress, so she just decided to go with large ivory, feathery flower with a beaded center. They couldn't find any shoes that really caught her eye so they called it a morning and went to pay for the items they did find to their liking. Once they left the building they decided to go grab some lunch and do some normal shopping at the mall.

'I should probably think about getting some stuff custom made for the TARDIS, can't show up in the 15th century wearing 20th century clothing...'

'How do you know the clothing styles will be the same in this universe? It might be a good idea to go and find something there...could always say someone mugged you on your way into town and all you could find was what you have from this time. I mean it is a stretch, but it is probably a good way to get free clothing.' Donna said thoughtfully.

'That's practically stealing from people.'

'No, Donna is right, Rose, the currency changes through the centuries so there is a really good chance your money won't be any good, especially that credit card.' She said that last part as if the piece of plastic were the devil himself.

Rose took one of her chips and threw it at her mom with a mocking offended look about her, but couldn't keep her composer long enough and burst into laughter. The two other young ladies burst into laughter as well and Sarah Jane found herself with a large smile on her face, which left Jackie who's face was scrunched up in indignation.

...

Martha pulled up in front of Rose's building to drop her off. 'I can't wait to see his face once he sees you in that dress, it is going to be priceless!'

'That is a fact, hope someone takes a picture of it too." The mental picture making the two women laugh. Composing herself, she took her seat belt off and opened the door. 'Well, I will see you back at work then. Thanks for giving me a ride today.'

'No problem. See you at work."

Rose grabbed her things out of the back of the car before they parted ways; she went up to their floor, upon entering their home she found that she was all alone. Flipping out her phone she texted him that she was back at the house. Sitting down on the couch she flipped on the TV and scrolled through the channels until she found her favorite talk show, The Graham Norton Show.

A couple hours later her phone buzzed with an incoming phone call, she picked it up and saw The Doctor lit up on the screen.

'Hey, where are you?'

_'Not sure exactly...'_

'What do you mean? Are you alright?'

_'Um...I'm fine, but we do have a problem.'_


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. Probably the longest chapter yet, so I hope you enjoy, and remember to review.**

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**Chapter 9: Dumb Luck or Fate?**

'What did you do?'

'I didn't do anything, I swear! I just came up to Torchwood to work on some computer stuff I was adding to the TARDIS, and she just suddenly took off.'

'So you're telling me, you are out somewhere in time and space and it was an accident?'

'Well...yea.' There was a long pause and he heard nothing but the uneasy silence from her end. 'Rose? You there?'

'When can you get back?'

'Well...I'm working on it, but she is being rather stubborn so I'm not entirely sure how long it will be before I get back, because frankly I do not even know when or where I am at the moment.'

'Well find out so maybe I can find a way from here to get the TARDIS to come home.'

'Don't know how much help you'll find, but I will let you know as soon as I can.' He gave a sigh as he looked over to the closed doors to his ship. 'Rose...I love you.'

'I love you too, be careful.'

'I will.'

'Which means you are going to get into all kinds of trouble wherever you are.' There was a soft laugh from his side before there was a click signaling that he had hung up.

She immediately went for her keys and dialed Pete's cell as she went out of their home and down to her car. When he answered she explained everything she'd been told and asked him to meet her at Torchwood. Her next call was to Sarah Jane, asking her if she still had the base code for the TARDIS uploaded with K-9. Sarah Jane said the one from the other K-9's memory was in it, however, she wasn't sure if it would be the same as this TARDIS. Instructing the older woman to meet her and Pete, and for her to bring the dog with her as well, Rose hung up and gunned her car to speed faster down the road. As she watched the road before her she couldn't help, but feel emotionally torn, part of her believed the Doctor wouldn't lie about what happened, but the other half of her was thinking about how much she knew he wanted nothing more than to go on an adventure to some unknown land, and the thought that maybe being in the TARDIS for an innocent computer job brought too much of a temptation and he took off without her. An aggravated scream filled the car interior as she slammed her palms against the grips of her steering wheel. Taking a deep breath she brought her calm composer back to the surface and reminded herself that getting upset right now would not help her solve anything. The entrance to the establishment came into view and she turned off the main road. Sarah Jane and Pete were already there when she parked her car; they were waiting for her in the lobby; upon entering she felt all her focus rush to the front of her mind; they made for the tenth floor, she had a plan if she could find where he had locked up Jack's old vortex manipulator and program it to find the TARDIS and if that didn't work they would have to wait to get the information from the Doctor.

'Where did he put that thing...' She mumbled as she began digging through the safe boxes throughout the lab.

'What are you looking for?' Pete walked up next to her. 'Maybe we can help you find it faster.'

'The vortex manipulator.'

'We can't use those, they'll rip a hole in the fabric of time and space, you know this, Rose. It's how this whole thing started.'

'Not the ones that were made here, Jack's vortex manipulator, he gave me one of his back when I first travelled with the Doctor, when I got pulled over here the systems shot. I spent months fixing it, once it was back in working order I used it to get back to my original universe. At first I could only get into minds, so I found Donna and used her to send a message to the Doctor, finally though, I was able to completely transport myself to Earth over there. I didn't have his coordinates then so I just found danger and knew he would eventually come to where all the commotion was. That is what I'm going to do now, use the vortex manipulator to find the TARDIS, I'm just hoping the base codes are the same.'

'And what if they're not the same?' Sarah Jane said, a slight motherly tone in her question.

'Then, I'll have to hope it has the power to take me to the other TARDIS, the Doctor there can help me transport back. Once I get back I'm hoping my Doctor will have sent me the information I need about where he is.'

'This sounds like a huge risk, what if he manages to get back before you find him?'

'Then, I'll see him when I return.'

She leaned down to K-9 as she strapped the device onto her wrist and instructed him to download the base code to the memory bank. K-9's little antenna reached out to the machine on her wrist, it lit up instantly as numbers began dancing onto the screen, they finally came to a stop after about ten seconds. Thanking the tin dog she stood back up and pressed the button to activate the manipulator, with a bright flash she was gone.

* * *

Looking around the deserted town he gave a deep sigh, there was nothing about this place to give him any indication as to where he was and not one soul around to ask where or when either. From the looks of it this was a ghost town, while he usually loved a good ghost town this was not really the time to be in one. Coming to a stop, he noticed that he was currently in some sort of plaza or marketplace. The buildings surrounding the slightly open area were made of crude stone, a wall also surrounded the place and connected two large towers to a even bigger housing building. Spinning in a circle a grin spread across his face, he was in some kind of castle or outpost; which meant he was probably somewhere in the middle age. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open, he gave a frustrated groan...there was no service, he was going to have to get back into the TARDIS for it to work in this place. As he began to turn around to head back there came a queer sound beyond the building and wall to his left, he stopped and stared in that direction half wanting to go see what had made the noise and the other half knew it would be better to get back to the TARDIS. The sound came again, closer and even more menacing than the first, this made up his mind and he ran to his ship. A whoosh was heard behind him as something took to the night sky above him. The moon was covered by thick clouds at the moment making it hard to identify the darkened shapes of the buildings around him, much less the creature above him. He silently cursed himself for going to Torchwood today, knowing if he hadn't he wouldn't be in this mess now. Another thought crossed his mind as he ran, this whole situation would be more fun if he could regenerate if injured badly, however with a human body and only one heart, so regenerating wasn't an option and he very much didn't want to die at the hands of this unknown thing flying above him. Where the hell did he leave his TARDIS?

Like a moment of saving grace the moon peaked through the mass of clouds, granting a few seconds of light to glance around the street. To his left was an ally with a small floating light; however to counter his good fortune the creature landed not far in front of him, it was some sort of dragon, but with a head and neck like that of a king cobra; it hissed and flicked it's tongue at him. The notion that this creature could not only tear him to pieces, but was also very likely to be extremely venomous as well. He stood half crouched and keeping direct eye contact with the creature, it was waiting for him to move before it attacked. Out of nowhere came a shrill barbarian battle cry that was followed by a woman flipping off one of the buildings to his right and landed on the creature's wing. The thing hissed in fury as its head coiled around to see what dared to disturb it on its hunt.

'Go now!'

'What about you?'

'I know what I'm doing...' The thing went to strike her, but only met the steel of her sword. 'I've dealt with him before.'

Again the creature went to attack the strange woman and again she parried the blow.

'You were lucky the last time we met, Kyla, you won't be so this time...' It hissed and she prepared to attack. Instead of striking at her again it flapped its massive wing with a mighty thrust and sent the woman sailing across the street unceremoniously. She landed in a large pile of hay that thankfully buffed her decent. The menacing creature gave mighty roar of laughter at her expense.

'Come on, we both need to get away from that thing.'

'I know how to deal with this evil; you however have no weapon, and you don't look much of a warrior, you are just going to get yourself killed the longer you stay here arguing with me, Time lord...'

'Wait?! How did you know I was a Time lord?'

'Your clothes, and I've seen your ship before.'

'Enough prattle!' The monster yelled as it launched itself at them.

Stamping her foot down she sent a pitch fork flying back up and caught it then used it as a spear. With a mighty thrust of her arm and body she sent the improvised weapon sailing at the creature, it hit it's intended target, it's left eye. The creature gave a mighty roar filled with pain and an unspeakable rage. She grabbed his wrist and dragged him back down the street away from the safety of the TARDIS; he tried to protest, but she was too focused on getting them as far from the enraged creature as possible. Finally, as she pulled them around a dilapidated building she came to a stop.

'You're usually not so helpless, why so now?'

'Before I explain that, how have you seen...'

'You TARDIS before? That would be because a long time ago I lived in another universe that is much like this one, only when I was dragged over here I lost part of what I was. I used to be a goddess of the ancient world before the people converted to Christianity; my name then was Demeter, I was the goddess of the grains and fertility of the Earth as well as the sanctity of marriage, the sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. When I was pulled over here I lost the powers over those things, but was still able to retain my immortality.'

'But that means you ruled around...'

'1400-1200 BC...but ever since people of Earth began to look to this One God the rest of us felt our powers dwindling. There were just enough believers left to allow us to do minor things in the world, but we were too weak to actually go down to our followers. Now, to my question you've been trying so hard to avoid answering.'

'Well, I suppose it's been a while since you've seen me, because I have changed about nine times since then. I guess for starters I suppose to help you understand why I am not quite as defended as before is because I am only part time lord. Two years ago and in another universe, the one you spoke of in fact, there was a battle to save not just Earth or the universe, but all of reality as well. A former enemy, Davros and the Daleks, reappeared and had been stealing planets from time and space; hiding them within a pocket universe inside the Medusa Cascade. My companions, not all, but several , came together to help defeat them, and when I went to reunite with one that had been pulled from me the first time I got shot by a Dalek which forced my body to regenerate. However, I was able to stop the completion and send the excess energy into a hand I had lost the last time I'd regenerated...'

'But you have two hands.'

'It was still really early in my change I had enough reserved energy to regrow the missing appendage. Anyways, after I had transferred the energy to my hand we were forced to leave the TARDIS due to the Daleks taking it captive onto their ship, but as we were getting off, my companion, Donna delayed and got trapped inside. The Daleks planned to break me by destroying my most prized possession...Donna being stuck inside is probably the only reason the TARDIS survived. She touched the hand that had all that extra regeneration energy inside it and caused a two-way biological metacrisis which is how I came to be...I am part time lord part human. I have the mind of a time lord, but the body and lifespan of a human. In the end, we defeated Davros and his Daleks, but at a cost...I committed genocide according to my counterpart which left him no choice but to leave me in this universe instead of returning to the other with him. However, he was also bringing Rose and her mother who'd been trapped here before; Rose and my other self had a very unique relationship, it was one of those rare occasions where time lord falls in love with a human...'

'Let me guess, he knew it would be too much to really be happy with her because eventually he'd outlive her and the loss would be crippling. So when you appeared, being the exact same, but different in the perfect way for her he found a way to try and let her be happy with someone she loved and who could love her back.'

'That about sums it up.'

'Selfish bastard...'

'HEY!'

'Don't get me wrong, I understand and can respect why he did it, but I bet he never even told her he loved her, much less why he couldn't be with her. Though I have seen gods fall for mortals and commit to relationships with them as well.'

'He did attempt to tell her how he felt, because he thought he'd never get the chance to again...probably one of the few times I'd felt regret for a decision...'

'You?'

'Well, my other self, but as I told you, outside of my lifespan and body I am the same man.'

He noticed she was about to respond but stopped and became very quiet. Her head cocked to the side just a fraction, she motioned for him to remain still and silent; that's when he heard the dangerously low sound of hissing not very far from where they were hiding out. She looked around the corner slowly then returned to her previous position and mouthed that the creature was just around the corner, she motioned for him to follow her in the opposite direction. They moved quickly and quietly around the building; she weaved them in and out of the alleyways till they came back to the part of the street she had met up with him.

'We don't have long before he retraces back here and find us, we only had the distraction of his injury on our side before; where is your TARDIS?'

'Just in the ally there.' He pointed in the direction he parked it.

She maneuvered them to the ship. 'Now, get in that thing and get back to your Rose. You weren't left with her just to die on some adventure in time as a human.'

'What about you?'

'This is where I belong now, and I can handle this monster, I have the advantage of immortality. Now Go!'

* * *

Rose appeared with a loud booming pop, her equilibrium was slightly off making her sway momentarily. Once she felt stable again she looked around at her surroundings; she seemed to be on a TARDIS, however, it didn't look like the one she was supposed to be on. Someone behind her cleared their throat making her twirl around to see a young woman looking back at her peculiarly.

'I'm sorry...I might be in the wrong place...is this the TARDIS?'

'It is...who are you and how did you get in here? We are in the middle of space.'

'I'm a friend of the Doctor's, do you know where he is?'

The girl's eyes moved to something over Rose's shoulder; she turned to see a man staring at her as if she were a ghost that might disappear if he so much as blinked.

'Rose?'

'You changed...'

'Sorry, couldn't help it, part of the job when you're a time lord saving the world from an invasion by a desperate King of the Time lords trying to escape destiny.' He walked closer to her, a small smile playing on his lips. 'What I'm wondering is how you got here from the parallel world.'

'You two know each other?' The young woman made herself known again. 'Who are you?'

'My name is Rose Tyler, I used to be a companion of his much like yourself.'

'That was a lifetime ago.' He said matter-of-fact.

'Can't tell if you're being serious or trying to be funny.'

'Both! Now, you've managed to forget about my question, how did you get here?'

'Almost sounds like you don't want me to be here. But the reason I'm here is just accidental...I was trying for our ship, but apparently the base codes are not the same as this one. I'm a little surprised the vortex manipulator had enough power to jump here at all.'

'What is a vortex manipulator?' The girl asked.

'Cheap version of what we are doing in the TARDIS. Why can't you just get the coordinates for your ship?'

'He said that the TARDIS just took off on its own, and he hadn't figured out exactly where he was or when. This was the only way I had to reach the ship from Torchwood. The base code K-9 provided was still for this one but we thought maybe it might still work...worse case scenario I'd be stuck over here or stuck in the middle of space.'

'Why would it be bad if you got stuck here with us?' The girl asked. 'We are always getting into trouble and finding fun ways to get out of it. My name is Clara by the way.'

'It's nice to meet you, Clara; and as tempting as it is to run away with him, I've got to find my half time lord in my own world.' She held up her left hand revealing her engagement ring.

'You're married to a...half time lord?'

'Well, engaged, but yea. It's a long story though.'

'I thought you said all the time lords were destroyed a long time ago, Doctor?'

'They were, she is from a parallel universe to this one, where a carbon copy of my former self now lives; he has the mind of a time lord, but a human body.' He looked at her steadily for a moment. 'So, you're getting married to my other self?'

'Yes; if you had allowed me to come with you would you have asked me?'

'Probably not...'

'I'm so confused...' Clara mumbled.

'I'll explain it to you another time, Clara; now we need to get Rose back to her own world.'

'Can your ship locate our ship since it is it's child?'

'Hmm..not sure, but there's a first time for everything.'

* * *

Back in his TARDIS he was whizzing around the console trying to make it go back to where he was supposed to be, but nothing worked; the ship simply refused to go anywhere. He tried to sweet talk the machine, then got frustrated more and began yelling at the console, but no matter what the ship wouldn't budge. He sighed and pulled out his phone, thankfully the TARDIS still provided the signal he needed to call Rose, he dialed her number. The phone rang...and rang...and rang...

'Where are you, Rose?'

The door of the TARDIS banged open and in walked Kyla looking slightly beaten up and even more confused. 'I thought I told you to go back to your own time.'

'I'm trying, but she won't go...she's being stubborn.'

'You say that as if it's a thinking being.'

'It is, it just doesn't have a way to verbalize her thoughts. Sometimes I wish she could though, like right now for instance. I wish I knew what she wants me to do here.'

'Maybe it's not what you have to do here, but maybe it's something that's supposed to happen to you here,' she said off handily.

'I suppose, but exactly where is here?'

'A small city in Greece, 1385 BC, that monster destroyed most of the outer city and did minimal damage to the inner parts. Very few people escaped with their lives, and even some of them are probably dead by now due to venom from that thing. It came in the middle of the night like a coward, there was no warning; these people didn't stand a chance.'

'Were you able to defeat it?'

'For now, but I did not manage to kill it, it took it's retreat after I shredded one of its wings and left it with multiple gashes across it's body. I'd say we only have a couple of hours before it comes back. Although it'll be dawn by then and it'll be easier for us to move around.'

'Yea, but we'll be easier to see too...' he mumbled as he tried tinkering with the console again, but without any new results. 'So why did you change your name when you came here.'

'Well, my alternate self exists here too, I've been a goddess before, and they can be rather selfish and self-centered. That's probably been one of the best things that has happened to me since I was brought here. Brought a bit of reality to me, making me realize that I am nothing special, just blessed or cursed with the gift of immortality. I figure if I do some good by protecting the innocent then maybe it won't be so bad. So in short I became Kyla.'

'Don't the people get confused by the fact you look like the goddess?'

'No, they've never seen her, and that will be her downfall in the end...hush, do you hear that?'

He tilted his head a little as if focusing whatever it was she was hearing to go to that one higher held ear. There was something coming, but the noise was too faint to make out what it was.

* * *

'What are you doing...this is worse flying than you've ever flown this thing before.' Rose half yelled as she and Clara were thrown across the floor. 'Did you become an idiot when you regenerated?'

'Don't be silly, Rose, I'm clever.'

'That's still up for debate from my point of view,' Clara huffed as she yanked her hair out of her face. 'He says we are going to go to one place, but then we go to an entirely different place instead. Oh and let us not forget that he usually places us in the center of trouble.'

'I told you that is completely the TARDIS, she has got a mind of her own.'

'While she may have a mind of her own you are the pilot of this ship...so can we please get her under control before I get a concussion being thrown about?'

'Well, I think it's safe to say that I'm not the only one who has changed...you're not the same girl who travelled with me...'

'Of course I'm not the same as I was! The man I fell in love with left me on the same damn beach...TWICE! The first time I helped rip holes in the universe just to be with him again only to be left with a COPY!'

'Hang on...I thought you were marrying that one, aren't you happy with him?'

The confused expression and gentle voice of Clara brought Rose down from her angry high and back to the reality before her. Rose gave her an apologetic smile as she tucked some hair behind her ear. The Doctor cleared his throat and looked off to the side awkwardly.

'I'm sorry, Clara...I do love my fiancé, I just didn't realize that I was still mad. And Doctor, I'm sorry I yelled at you too, you just did what you had to do. Now, were you able to locate the other TARDIS, I'm ready to go home.'

'We just landed on Earth in your universe in the year 1385 BC.'

She ran to the door but quickly looked back at him, 'Is he here, or did you go to the wrong place again?'

'Hurtful...my ship detected your ship here, so unless it left him here alone then I would guess he would be here too.'

'You are going to come with me right, I know you can't resist a new adventure that is just laying before you.'

'Naturally...what are we waiting for? Geronimo!'

Rose opened the door and the three of them exited the TARDIS onto the same deserted street as the Doctor Smith had earlier that night. As soon as the doors closed to the ship a loud roar raged from the sky above them. The massive creature stared down at them with it's one good eye. They edged slowly to the side, but the monster had its eye locked on them and was preparing to strike.

'Rose?!' The yell came from an alleyway just behind the creature.

Everyone including the creature looked in that direction. The creature hissed in pleasure then flicked it's poisoned tongue out at the man who had ran from the safety of his own TARDIS. It only took a fraction of a second for Rose to know something was wrong and found herself running under the monster to her fiancé's side. She grabbed the fallen man up into her arms and held him tightly, his skin was becoming colder by the moment. Tears rained down her ivory cheeks as she begged him to hold on.'

'Rose, get out of the way, there is nothing you can do for him,' a woman's voice said gently over the sound of a sonic screwdriver blasting attacks in the background. 'Rose, you need to get to safety, as well as your other friends.'

'Who are you?'

'Kyla, and I'm a friend.'

'I'm not leaving him...'

'I understand your grief, but he is dying and there is nothing that can help him. Now, we need to move or we will die too.'

'I said, I'm not leaving him, he would never just leave me to die alone like this, and I will not do it to him...I love him.'

Just then, as Kyla was going to respond the other two who'd come with Rose joined them. 'Hi, I'm the Doctor, this is Clara. Now, get him into his TARDIS quickly. 'They picked the dying Doctor up and began moving him back into his ship as the creature began circling the courtyard to come after them. 'Now, we can do something productive...where's Rose?'

'She's going to face it all by herself...'

'But that's suicide...Doctor, you have to stop her,' Clara screeched.

Out in the courtyard Rose picked up an abandoned sword and a broken, bloodied pitch fork and advanced on the demonic creature. There was a fire in her eyes like never before without the vortex pulsing through her; her eyes screamed hatred for the monstrosity crawling before her, it gave a great laugh at the sight of her.

'So the little princess wants to come out and play does she? Well, come on then, give me your best shot.'

As if some great force had entered her body she found herself sailing across the air at the evil in such a fashion only seen in the movies. She buried the pitch fork in its throat, landing on the nose of the thing she buried the sword in its skull, but not quick enough to avoid feeling the poison bleeding into her system where it's tongue had wrapped around her body in a last attempt to take her with it.

She could hear faint cries of people running to her, but that's all they were, and then there was nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN**: Sorry it's been so long since my last entry, got a new job and don't have quite as much down time to work on my stories...anyways hope everyone enjoys the chapter. Again I do not own DW, and do not claim any credit to plot lines, quotes, or characters from the show. There is a dream sequence later in the story that is not of my imagination, but I loved it so much that I wanted to incorporate it into my story, tried to figure out who originally wrote it, but was not successful, so if anyone knows who tell them I think they are bloody brilliant.

* * *

**Chapter 10: There and Back Again**

The blackness was all around her; she felt weightless, like there was no gravity. It wasn't silent anymore though, voices were floating all around from every direction and into her ears, but she recognized all of them; they were her memories...

_'Ok, first things first, how do I look?'_

_ 'Um...different.'_

_ 'Good different or bad different?'_

_ 'Just different.'_

_ 'Am I...ginger?'_

_ 'No, you're just sort of brown...'_

_ 'Ah I want to be ginger, I've never been ginger; And you, Rose Tyler, fat lot of good you were, you gave up on me, oh that's rude; is that all I am now? Rude and not ginger.'_

_ 'And could we find some clothes for Miss Tyler, I'm tired of nakedness.'_

_ 'It's not amusing is it?'_

_ 'Always take a banana to a party, Rose, bananas are good.'_

_ 'Does he still stroke bits of the TARDIS?'_

_ 'Yea...yea he does. And I'm like, do you two want to be along?'_

_ 'How's it going?...What?...Listen, I need to find out what's programmed inside these...what?...Stop it...'_

_ 'I trust him because he's like you, except with dating and dancing...what?'_

_ 'You just assume I'm...'_

_ 'What?'_

_ 'You just assume I don't dance.'_

_ 'You're telling me you do dance?'_

_ 'Nine hundred years old, I've been around a bit. You can assume at some point I have danced.'_

_ 'You?!'_

_ 'Problem?'_

_ 'Doesn't the universe implode or something if you dance?'_

_ 'Well, I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast.'_

_ 'You've got the moves? Show me your moves.'_

_ 'Rose, I'm trying to resonate concrete...'_

_ 'Jack will be back, he'll get us out, so come on the world doesn't end because the Doctor dances.'_

"Rose!' The Doctor ran from the young TARDIS to the fallen blonde's side, the other two following close behind. 'Help me get her in there with him, it's the only way we can save her."

"But Doctor, there is nothing on this Earth that can save her or the other Doctor, the creature's venom is very lethal, the smallest amount can kill a human." Kyla said as the Doctor fumbled with Rose's arms.

"Clara, grab her legs, we have to hurry. Why does she always have to be so stubborn?"

"Did you not hear me, Doctor, she is a lost cause and so is he, there is not one single thing from this planet that can cure them of the poison's effects."

"Then it's a good thing both TARDIS' are not technically of this planet, am I right? Of course I am, their origins are based from Gallifrey, the home planet of the Time Lords. The machines are a very good defense for their owners, because they can provide the ultimate healing technology that Earth won't have, the TARDIS itself is what can save them...now are you going to help us or not?"

She quit her arguing at that moment though she didn't agree with what he was saying, she helped Clara with Rose's feet, and they carefully trudged over to the ship once more. Once inside they settled Rose next to the unconscious Doctor; Clara looked over to her Doctor to see him running around the strange ship's console pressing buttons and pulling levers as he mumbled to himself. He had a frown upon his normally chipper and excited face, she wondered what his plan was to save the two people laying on the grated floor.

"Kyla, I'm going to need you to stay on this ship while they are in the healing process, I'm going to help relocate them back to their own time by telepathically tethering this ship with mine.'

"But I belong in this time not the future," Kyla screeched. "You can't just rip me from my home."

"This is a time machine, actually both are as you seem to have forgotten, they can bring you back once they are back to health."

"And just how long is this going to take exactly. Doctor?"

"A few hours at least, possibly a few days at the most." As she went to argue with him he raised a finger to his lips and silenced her before she had a chance to speak. "Now, I need to release the nanogenes, you two stand clear of them."

He fiddled with a few more knobs and a cloud of golden particles began to fill the space around him then circling to the two invalids. The Doctor took Clara's hand and pulled her back out into the alley, telling Kyla to watch over Rose and her Doctor, but not to touch them no matter what. The doors to the TARDIS slammed shut behind them; they ran across the courtyard and entered his ship, he immediately began his random tinkering, and after a couple of minutes she felt the ship shift as it took off. She had so many questions running through her mind beginning with the arrival of the girl named Rose. She knew the Doctor had other companions in the past even though he spoke little about them, but for as intimate a relationship their earlier conversation had suggested she would expect him to have at least spoken of her more often and as a named person, but they were all referred to as companions...friends, but not names.

"Doctor, what's going on here really?"

"We are saving lives in a universe that we should not even be in, being here is risking tearing a hole in the rift, but it was unavoidable with her hopping the Void with that Vortex manipulator. I would scold Jack about giving her one of those, though it would probably be in vain anyways that man never really listens; and I cannot cross my own timeline to do so, and as far as anyone from that part of my life I mind as well be dead. I left them all behind right before my regeneration took full effect. There cannot be any gaps between the two universes we run the risk of collapsing them on top of one another, I have already had to reboot the universe once, and twice had to find a way to close all the gaps."

"What do you mean 'reboot the universe', you can't just turn it off like it's a computer."

"Actually, I can and I did...the gaps that I closed up twice in my last generation were closed, but were also weakened areas which later became cracks. If you fell through one of the cracks you were basically erased from history to the point not even your loved ones will remember you. I had to blow up my TARDIS in order to erase the actions of my several enemies, and easy way to look at it would be like running an universal virus scan...actually maybe that's not the best way to look at it. Oh look we have arrived!"

His rant was cut off as the TARDIS came to a hard stop, he rushed past her and out the door; Clara though still very confused followed close behind and found herself in a very strange lab, the other ship settled only feet away. They went to the other ship, both forms where still glowing with the nanogenes and Kyla was perched on a rail off to the side as far from the bodies as possible without losing sight of them either.

"There hasn't been any change, those things just keep surrounding them." Kyla said matter-of-fact.

"They were on the very edge of death, it's not an easy job to just fix, it is going to take some time to completely the process. I did say the minimum would be a few hours to a few days, and it has only been minutes since the process began."

"Can you take me back to my own time now, nothing went wrong, I need to get back to my own people."

"No, you need to stay here because I cannot, I shouldn't even be in this universe. The more I travel through time here the worse damage that can be caused." He motioned for Clara to get back to their ship. "Rose's family will be on their way up here in a moment, the security system has already alerted them that someone is in the building unauthorized. Relay the information about what is going on to them and they will help you look after these two."

Memories of when he first met Rose began to fill his mind as well as his other companions, the adventures that they had shared together, the images whirled behind his eyelids so fast his head began to hurt...wait why did his head hurt, didn't he die? He remembered his last moments there in Rose's arms as she cried over him and begged him to hold on, he had died; so how was he alive now?

Kyla was stalking the large room waiting for something to change in the Doctor and Rose, the rotating glow of the nanogenes had slowed and thinned, but never stopped. She hoped they would hurry and finish this process soon; Pete had made it clear he didn't completely trust or believe her story. He had wanted proof from either a conscious Doctor or Rose, or the other Doctor; which clearly wasn't going to happen. As she walked back into the TARDIS, where they'd decided was the safest place for the two, she got a great surprise.

As if he'd been shocked by an invisible wave of energy he sat straight up startling the former goddess who was standing just feet away.

"You're awake?!" She came to his side cautiously.

"How long was I not awake?"

"About three days..."

"Well, that explains why I am so hungry. Where's Rose?" Kyla nodded over to his left, looking over he saw her laying there silently as nanogenes busied themselves around her. "How long has she been like that?"

"Three days..."

"What happened, the last thing I remember is Rose holding me after I was attacked."

"She took on the monster by herself, and won, but at the cost of her own life too. The monster poisoned her as she made her fatal blow; she probably has a higher dosage running through her because it's tongue wrapped completely her body unlike the quick strike it gave you."

"She took it on by herself...that's my Rose, she's brilliant. How did you get here?"

"The other Doctor forced me to travel back to your time to watch over you during the healing process, he said he couldn't take me back himself, that you would have to do it. I need to get back to my people, there are more fowl creatures roaming the lands there and not enough soldiers to hold the countryside."

"Let's wait one more day and see if Rose's healing finishes up, but I promise we will get you back to your time as if only a day had passed there so we don't cross anyone's timeline and create a paradox."

It wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, but if he could get her home with only a day of her being gone then she'd bite her tongue and be grateful that he was willing to travel back there. She left the TARDIS and crossed the hallway to another lab they'd given her access to and rigged into a housing area. They'd taken her to the mansion and gave her some of Jackie's old clothes so she could roam around the city without drawing attention to herself. They took her out to buy some food that could be stored at the lab, mostly fruits and veggies, and a mini fridge to keep them fresh in. They showed her around the town before taking her back to Torchwood and setting everything up for her to be comfortable and close to the TARDIS.

Clara walked nonchalantly around the ship's console and peered at her Doctor curiously, he'd been acting strangely ever since they'd gotten back from their detour, she'd thought with some space and no prying from her he'd snap out of it, but after four days of him faking that everything was fine she'd had enough and was determined to get an answer from him. He was tinkering with buttons and levers, completely unaware of her presence behind him.

"Doctor, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but I do suppose that is not the question you were meaning about." He glanced sideways at her. "So what do you want to ask?"

"I want to know what's been bothering you? Ever since we came back from helping Rose you have been acting very odd, like something's wrong, but you don't want to admit to it. Did something go wrong while we were there...that I do not know about? Is there a rip in space due to the TARDIS jumping the Void?"

"No...no I'm fine, nothing's wrong."

"And I don't believe you..."

"Clara..."

"Do you have a tummy ache, does the big bad Time Lord have a tummy ache?" She laughed as she mocked him knowing that it would provoke him enough to answer her question.

Pete and Jackie rushed up the elevator once the Doctor called them announcing that he was awake. They wanted answers to what had happened and gone wrong wherever he and Rose had ended up, why were they hurt. Jackie was the first to burst through the door of the lab, the Doctor was waiting for them in the lobby out front of the main lab.

"Where's my daughter? I need to see my daughter." Jackie said frantically as she went to pass him, but he grabbed her hand gently and kept her from heading down the hallway. "Is she..."

"No, but she is not conscious yet either, the nanogenes are still repairing the damage done while we were in Kyla's time period. And I need to explain without you panicking on me, Jackie. I know Pete knows most of the story, but since Kyla isn't familiar with Gallifrey technology she was not able to give proper details to what was going on with Rose and I."

"How are you already awake and she isn't?"

"Promise you won't start panicking?"

The older blonde stamped her foot, but nodded her head and only got an eyeballed look until she verbalized her promise. The Doctor began to retell Kyla's story the she'd told Pete, but added in the parts the woman didn't know how to explain. When he told them that Rose had actually died during their absence Jackie began to freak until he gave her a look reminding her that she had promised not to go overboard. Once she was all composed again the Doctor reassured them that the nanogenes would revive her, but it was going to take longer on her than it had him due to the amount of poison that had been pumped into her system by the creature. He suggested they just get back to their regular daily business because it was just a matter of waiting now.

"Doctor, may I speak with you privately?" Pete said as Jackie walked out of the lobby and into the elevator. Turning his full attention to the Doctor after the doors closed. "I told Jackie not to say anything because I know how she can be, but do you know how long you've been gone?"

"No, not exactly, I know I've been out for three days so I would assume for three days, why how long has it been?"

"You've been gone two months here, people have been starting to ask questions that don't know the major factors about Torchwood. You may not have realized how ingrained the two of you are in the way this institute runs, but people do know something is amiss when two of the top board members go missing without so much as a word. And not to mention, your wedding is in two days...will Rose be healed before then?"

"I hope so, but it's hard to tell at the moment. I will have the TARDIS run some scans to see how far the nanogenes have progressed." He looked over his shoulder at Kyla who had gone to the other side of the room. "I also need to return her to her own timeline, she's getting very anxious to get back there. I just don't want to risk getting stuck in that place again."

"What about the vortex manipulator Rose was using? I think it was rigged with a delay return button if it should need to be sent back without it's wearer. You could send her back by that then just have her return it through the delay option."

"I'll have to get it off Rose's wrist."

He said goodbye to Pete after getting the directions on how to use the delay button, when the elevator doors shut again he called for Kyla to follow him back to Rose's side. As they walked he explained to her the options she had in returning to her time; she could wait a few more days to wait for Rose to awaken and to attend their wedding should it not have to be put off, or to use the vortex manipulator to go home now. Ultimately she chose to go home sooner, though thanking him for the thought of inviting her to their wedding and wished him all the best. He crouched down beside Rose and reaching carefully for her wrist took the manipulator off her. The nanogenes hummed around his hands and arms as he was removing it; he stood up with it and had the TARDIS scan it to make sure it was in working condition after jumping the Void. Seeing that it was in perfect condition he explained how it worked as he wrapped it around her wrist.

"And once you have arrived just press this button after you've taken it off; it will return to its last location after one minute. Do not touch it after you've pressed the button or you'll return with it. Do you understand?"

"What did he say about Rose? Will she be better soon?" Jackie had grabbed her husband the moment he was off the elevator. "What did he tell you?"

"He doesn't know yet, he is going to see if the TARDIS can shed some light on her status. He'll let us know as soon as he does, so let's go home and get some rest. Martha is probably ready to hand over Toby, he's getting to be such a handful these days."

Her head was pounding, a dreadful beeping noise seemed to control the air around her; opening her eyes she saw the ceiling of the ship, eyes scanning to both sides she finally saw the Doctor tinkering with the control panel, his back was to her. She pushed herself up onto her elbows, a groan escaping her lips and bringing his attention to her from the console. "What happened, how did we get back, I had the worst dream; I dreamed that this creature with a snake head and a dragon body killed you, and then I attacked it and killed it, but got killed at the same time."

"Rose, you didn't dream that, it actually happened. It was a good thing you had brought the other Doctor with you or we might not have made it back."

"If we...died, then how are we here?"

"Nanogenes, the other Doctor had us brought back in here and he released them, but we've been out for three days, and missing for two months." He helped her stand and walk over to the little bench by the console, he began looking her over and checking her vitals to make sure she was in tip top condition. "How do you feel?"

"Different, but good...and alive considering the size of the headache pounding through my head." She sat very still for a moment then looked him in the eye; "Did you say we've been gone for two months?"

"Yes..."

"The wedding!"

"Is in two days." He could see her visibly relax and sink back onto the bench. "I'm going to go call your parents and update them..."

"Not tonight, let's just go home; you tell them tonight and we'll never get any peace from my mother, and I just want to curl up n our bed."

"Ok, let's go home."

His phone vibrated with a text message from the Doctor; opening the message he read the few words on the screen:

'She's awake, tell Jackie in the morning.'

He closed the message and went back to watching the TV as Jackie hummed in the kitchen as she cooked dinner. He didn't like keeping secrets from his wife, but knowing Rose she probably just didn't want to be bothered by her overbearing and overprotective mother. He turned off the TV and left the living room and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. From the doorway he watched her move from one pan to the other and Toby coloring at the table behind her.

They arrived back at their apartment about an hour later, he told her he'd make them something simple to eat then they could go to bed; she nodded then moved to go to the bedroom to go take a shower. He watched her walk almost mechanically into their room, he knew there wasn't another woman who could make him as happy as she did. He went into the kitchen and began their supper.

After her shower she felt a hundred times better than before, she put on some pajamas then went out into the main room just as he was putting their food onto plates. "What's for dinner?"

"Grilled cheese sandwiches and chips."

"Sounds perfect." She took her plate from him and they walked into the living room and sat down on the couch and turned the telly on and scrolled through the channels until they came to the Graham Norton Show.

"Feel better?"

"Yes, but I'm still so tired." She leaned her head onto his shoulder as she popped the last of her grilled cheese in her mouth. Her eyes began to droop at the rhythmic motions of his fingers on her shoulder until finally she fell asleep there on the couch. Half an hour passed and he let her sleep peacefully on his shoulder as he reveled in the fact he would still get to live out his life at her side and hers at his. He gazed down at her slumbering form and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before maneuvering so he could pick her up and carry her to their room. Placing her on the bed and pulling the covers over her he went back out into the main room to pick up their plates and put them in the sink to be washed in the morning; returning to the bedroom he walked into the adjourning bathroom. After a quick shower he climbed in bed beside her, but sleep would not come to him just yet so he contented himself by watching her sleep; she had curled herself up against him the moment he'd got in next to her. He thought over the last couple of years that he'd been laying in this same spot next to her, so many secrets and dreams shared between them, except one that was floating around in his mind at the moment. Seeing the other Doctor, even just the briefest glance, had brought the dream to the front of his memories; it had been on a night similar to this one, Rose had been really sick and had fallen asleep before he, he'd lain there and watched her until sleep finally took over and images began to appear behind his eyelids:

_'He was in the TARDIS, standing on the console platform. Regeneration energy was coursing through his body, it felt like tiny tongues of flames licking at every cell in his body rewriting them. He could still hear the Ood singing outside the TARDIS, it is a beautiful and sad melody, and at that moment he realizes that he doesn't want this life to end or change, he doesn't want to become someone new, but it is too late. The process has started, and he has said his goodbyes, the last to his sweet Rose, his beautiful Rose, even before she had met him. There is a moment where everything is quiet, where he can feel every molecule of his body getting ready to burst, then all of sudden his body is screaming at him the regeneration energy finally takes complete control, he'd never held it off this long and he apologizes to the next him who will surely have to clean up the mess he will make. His chest heaves, he counts the last heartbeats he has left and steeling himself against the coming change. "I don't want to go," he whispers, tears in his eyes as the energy finally erupts from within and he is engulfed. He is on fire, it burns so much he just wants it to hurry up and end, to stop; he doesn't care if he dies anymore. Mentally he screams her name over and over and over again, chanting it like a mantra: Rose, Rose, ROSE!' His eyes had flown open and he'd seen their bedroom; running his hand over his face, chest heaving as he tried to shake the dream from his memory._

_ "What's wrong? Are you all right?" She'd asked as she turned to him._

_ He was sorry that he'd woken her in the process; gathering her in his arms and kissing her on the forehead then wrapping himself around her. She rubbed his back in an attempt to sooth him._

_ "Yea, just a bad dream," he says as he tries to fight back the tears that were trying to overwhelm him. "It's over now." But he knows it's not just a bad dream; somewhere across the universes the Doctor is regenerating, and he is alone and afraid._

He is pulled back to the present by the feel of reassuring caresses to the arm he'd wrapped around her, looking back down he could see the lashes on her eyes fluttering periodically. "What are you thinking about so hard? I can feel how tense you are, come on spill it out."

"I thought you were exhausted?"

"I am, but I won't get any sleep when it feels like I'm leaning against the hull of the Titanic." She turned over and looked up into his eyes with her own big doe ones. "Is it nerves about the wedding?"

"No, I'm not in the slightest bit nervous about our wedding...that I am waiting impatiently for," he wrapped his arms tightly back around her and pulled her very close to him, she grinned at him which he happily returned then placed a kiss on her lips. "It just can't get here fast enough for me. I was just thinking about a dream I'd had a long time ago. It was on a night just like this when I had it, when you were really sick..."

"I vaguely remember that, I woke up to you screaming my name. What did you dream about, you never did tell me about it."

He watched her carefully for a moment, she'd always been more sensitive to the topic of the original Doctor, "I dreamed about the other me's regeneration..." he watched her face trying to gauge her reaction to the information. When only a slight stiffness seemed to come over her he continued, "It was probably the worst one he's ever been through, and he was all alone. He didn't want to go..."

She had tears in her eyes that she tried to blink away, she knew he was better now, quirky and weird, and he had someone to keep him grounded when he began to take things too far. She looked up at her Doctor laying next to her and brushed her fingers over his sideburns and gave him small smile. "I don't think he's as alone as he thinks he is anymore, not as handsome either, and somehow I think we'll see them again one day. Now, let's get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be very long once my mother gets involved."

"Hmmm...you have a point there."

Rose was the first one to wake up, she was feeling better than she ever had in her entire life. Leaving the bedroom she went into the kitchen and started breakfast of French toast and bacon with a side of fresh sliced fruit. As she was getting plates down the sound of their bedroom door opening caught her attention, looking over her shoulder she greeted him with a good morning. He came up behind he and wrapped his arms around her waist and set his chin on her shoulder; she leaned into him as she put the food onto the plates.

"How did you sleep, my dear?"

"Wonderfully, feel like a whole new person if I'm perfectly honest. How about your, did you finally get some sleep?"

"Yes, fell asleep not long after you went back to sleep. Ready to face everyone today?"

"Hmm...not really, I'd much rather spend the day with you, however I'm sure everyone is expecting an explanation about what really happened while we were gone. My mother especially I bet."

"The good news though, they already know most of what happened while we were in the other time frame. They even got to meet a former goddess and had no clue...didn't think it would be a good idea while you were lying there unconscious, I'm sure your mum would have demanded she do something when the truth is she no longer has her godly powers. Now, come on we need to eat and get dressed for work, have a feeling we are going to have a lot of paperwork to catch up on once we escape your mum's clutches, and I don't want to be up there all night since our wedding is tomorrow."

"Speaking of our wedding, I am staying over at Martha's tonight along with Donna and a few other girlfriends."

"I'm not going to see you before our big day?"

"It's bad luck to see the blushing bride before the ceremony, especially if she's in her wedding dress."

He looked like he wanted to protest, but snapped his mouth shut then began eating his breakfast. After a moment he looked back up at her with his mischievous grin plastered on his face, her eyes narrowed in warning, but he did not take heed of it. "You, Rose Tyler, do not seem to be the blushing bride sort of girl."

"I don't know if I should be offended by that or not," she huffed. "I may not be the blushing bride who is all innocent, but I am when it comes to you and I since we have saved that for our wedding night."

They walked into the Torchwood building and were greeted by the shrill voice of Jackie as she caught sight of her daughter coming into the building. She created such a fuss that the other level one employees began to pay too much attention to the scene before them until finally Rose pulled her mother into the elevator and took all three of them up to the ninth floor and straight into Pete's office. They stayed in there until Jackie finally could keep herself under control and stop yelling at the Doctor for making the situation come up in the first place, even while he pleaded that it was an accident, and then she'd turn her wrath on Pete for allowing Rose to go and for not telling her immediately that her daughter was up and well. Rose had given the Doctor a sharp glance when she'd heard that the Doctor had told Pete the night before, but she just brushed it off when he gave her an apologetic grin, she'd let him slide on this one due to the matter of the situation. In the end everyone got to their own floor, Rose and the Doctor began their game of catch up with all the project paperwork laying on their desks.

Martha and Donna took their lunch with Rose in her office, catching her up on the gossip of the last two months, and questioned her about what happened while she was missing. After making sure she was feeling back to normal, they bombarded her with questions about this new version of the Doctor, Rose couldn't help, but laugh at their eagerness to know about this man they would never get to meet.

"Well, to be honest, I didn't spend all that much time with him to really give you a good description of who he is, but physically he is a good bit shorter that our Doctor. He's a little bit more childish looking too, but you can tell something has happened him on a tragic level, because there is an underlying sadness in his eyes even when he seems to be excited about something. We didn't start our time together on very good terms, it came with a bit of yelling at one another. Oh, and he has a new little companion named Clara; there is something familiar about her..."

"Familiar? How so?" Martha said, Donna nodding vigorously beside her.

"I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but there is just this feeling that I know who she is, just the exact information is being kept locked up."

"Maybe she's your child from the future, I mean you are about to be married, and I think we all know your mum will be expecting grandchildren to be following close behind." Donna said. "But if she is your child, how does she manage to cross the void and meet this other you?"

"Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey...we have a new TARDIS in this universe, it could travel back to those timelines for us when the void wasn't completely closed off, but if she was our child it would be stressed to her the dangers of crossing the void and that should only be done if you absolutely had to. That or it had better be an accident like when the TARDIS got pulled through the Time Vortex and dropped here when the Cybermen were trying to take over this universe with the help of that horrible man Pete used to work for, John Lumic."

"That name sounds slightly familiar, but it's like there is a fog around it," Martha said as her face scrunched up in deep thought.

"Trust me, it's probably best that you don't remember, what he was doing to people was disgusting, frankly I wish I could forget it myself." Rose finished going over a report and set it aside, then looked up at the two women sitting in front of her desk. Remembering back to the last day she'd spent in the other universe trying to find her Doctor and seeing Martha on the computer screen, then meeting both her and Donna when they were all captives of Davros and being slightly put off and jealous that he had found companions after her, especially beautiful and smart ones to boot; now, even though they were not the exact same they were her best friends. She couldn't imagine how different her life would be here without them always around. "You know what, I'm tired of playing catch up, I'm about three-fourths the way through, let's get out of here for the day."

"Sounds like a plan to me, we can go get ready for all the fun we are going to be doing tonight." Donna said excitedly.

"I'm going to go say bye to the Doctor then we can be off," Rose said as she slipped the finished paperwork into a file folder then locked it up in her filing cabinet. "Meet me on your level, Donna, I want to go out the side door and avoid having to talk to my mum before we leave. She'll treat unfinished paperwork like unfinished homework, and I don't want to deal with all that the day before my wedding."

The Doctor was tapping his pen on the desk as he stared down at the report in front of him, he hated this part of the job, it was so dull. He just sat there staring at the same line for several minutes until a knock sounded, Rose was standing beside the door, he hadn't heard the sound of the elevator arriving on to his floor. Smiling he put down his pen and got up from his chair and went over to her and wrapped her into a hug then kissed her sweetly.

"What is the honor of this visit, my dear?"

"I wanted to come see you before I head out, I'm going to play hooky for the rest of the day. I got most of the work done, and frankly I'm tired of staring at paper all day so I'm going to finish it after we get back from our honeymoon."

"We'll be gone for two weeks, you'll have even more work when we get back."

"Well, unless aliens attack the Earth while we are gone I don't think two weeks of extra paperwork could trump two months of it. Now, you have a fabulous evening and I will see you tomorrow as I walk down the aisle to become Mrs. Doctor Smith."

"That time just can't get here fast enough in my opinion. What are you and the girls going to do tonight?"

"Oh, that's a secret..." She leaned up and kissed him. "I love you."

She turned then and got back in the elevator and left him alone in his office again; he walked idly around the whole floor, looking over all the projects he'd worked on over the last couple of years...soon he wouldn't be spending quite as much time in here, they'd agreed that they would spend most of the time in the TARDIS exploring new worlds and meeting new people just as they did before when they first travelled together. They were only going to come in to the original time stream about six time a year, and each time spend two weeks catching up with everyone and helping Torchwood stay on track. They had already discussed in detail to Pete and Jackie their plan and somewhat to their other friends, but to everyone they knew it had been stressed that they didn't want to be called back unless they were absolutely needed there before they were due to return. Before they left they were going to openly announce to the whole company staff what the whole establishment really was all about. Those who couldn't deal with the secretiveness of the company would be escorted from the premises after all the information had been erased from their memory.

He looked up and saw he'd come to the last lab where he'd grown their TARDIS then later proposed to her, opening the door he went inside. This room would forever be very special to him, he doubted he'd let anyone outside of himself and Rose use this lab for anything. After looking over the room for a long moment he left it and locked it up with the master key insuring nobody would be able to enter it without him. Going back to the front desk he got back to the paperwork he'd been staring at before Rose had thankfully interrupted him on, he wanted to get as much as he could done before he left for the evening.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: White Wedding**

"Rose, wake up this instant!" Martha screeched as she shook the blonde to wakefulness. "Come on, we are already running behind!"

"I'm up I'm up...oh god my head feels like it's about to split open; how much did we drink?"

"Uh uh, how much did you drink would be a better question, and to answer your question, too much. I told you that you should stop taking those shots, but you wouldn't listen to me." She pulled the blond up and out of bed . "Come on, take this aspirin and juice then hop in the shower, I will get the other girls up."

Rose took the aspirin with the juice as she was told then walked to the bathroom slowly as Martha went around the room and roused the other women still sleeping around the apartment room. They each took turns in the shower until finally everyone was washed up and refreshed from the bachelorette party. Donna helped Rose with her hair and makeup, while the others got themselves ready with the exception of herself and Martha. The other ladies left soon after telling Rose they'd see her at the church; they were going up there early to help Jackie decorate the hall for the ceremony, then the banquet at the Tyler Mansion.

Once her hair and makeup were finished Donna allowed her to go take a mini cat nap while she got Martha's and her own hair and makeup done as well. She only said not to actually lay down, but to sit up in Martha's recliner as to avoid doing damage to the work carefully done to her face and hair.

The Doctor got ready with Pete and Toby at the mansion, Jackie had left early to go do decorating at the church and took her clothes with her to when she was done. The guys spent an hour sitting in the kitchen after she'd left just talking about the things going on around London and within Torchwood itself, they were going to the whole institute in the morning about the secret of Torchwood that the people who weren't privileged to be in the upper levels. And if by psychosis Pete's phone lit up with Jackie's picture, when he answered the woman's voice rang through the whole room telling him that they needed to get off their butts and get ready because if they were so much as a minute late she'd have both their heads on a silver platter. The Doctor couldn't help but to laugh though he knew Jackie would hold true to her threat of hurting them, he got up and quickly went to get ready. Pete could be heard down several of the hallways still trying to reason with his wife over the phone.

Both men showered and dressed in their suit pants and white button up long-sleeved suit shirt. The Doctor stood in front of the bathroom mirror located in his and Rose's room at the mansion; he was putting some gel in his hair to get it to spike the way he used to do in the other universe. Toby came into the bathroom behind him.

"Uncle John...can yous help?"

"Heey buddy," he said turning to face the toddler. "What do you need help with?"

"I can't ties this." He held out a slip of cloth and the Doctor took it from the boy with a smile.

and flash that caught his attention off to the side. Glancing up to see what had gone off, "Mickey! What are you doing here, I thought you were going to help Jackie at the church?"

"Yeah, she sent me away to come make sure you and Pete were actually getting ready. She is quite on edge right now, trust me I'd much rather be here than there until I have to be. Have you talked to Rose this morning?"

"I tried to call her earlier this morning, but Martha answered it and said she had confiscated Rose's phone until after the ceremony, and that if I had anything I really needed to tell her that she'd relay it to her. Other than that no I haven't had any contact with her."

"I haven't gotten an answer from Martha either, it's almost like they have gone off the grid. It's driving Jackie crazy because she can't get any of them to make sure they are all on schedule. I think that woman has it all timed to the exact second. She's scary when she gets into one of these moods. All the delivery people bringing in all the flowers and decorations. Rose probably would have either murdered her mum or killed over herself by now if she was observing the process. Though I think if Jackie were here right now she'd be happy; you're a sucker for kids and she'd love to see this picture."

"Of course, and if I didn't I would have to learn to love them...that woman would have my head if I didn't, she's desperate to have grand kids, which is probably why she's acting even more crazy than normal. We haven't really told anyone yet, but once the wedding has happened we are going to try and conceive, we are both ready to start our own family. We've been discussing the idea for a couple of months before we went missing here. Though we thought it would be funny to leave Jackie clueless about all that until we were actually expecting because she's done nothing but nag us about when we were going to start trying. I'm sure she's dying to ask again once the ceremony has ended, and if she does I'm probably going to tell her that we aren't planning on having children for several years and that for now we just want to spend our time travelling, just the two of us."

"You do realize as funny as that is, you will probably...no more than likely receive a well deserved smack from your mother-in-law and it won't be playfully aimed at your arm, but rather forcibly at your head."

"Yea...that has crossed my mind, but I have decided it will be well worth the pain."

* * *

Around one-o-clock they arrived at the church, roughly fifteen minutes later guests began to show up and take their seats. The church was massive and all of Torchwood had been invited to witness the union of Rose and The Doctor. Another, but remarkably, smaller group of friends and family had also been invited by request of Jackie who had wanted to prove to some people that Rose really was getting married. Needless to say some people who weren't really fans of Pete's "new" Jackie as they termed her were not so convinced that this wedding would go through, to them Rose was even more fickle than her mum. Rose never paid them any mind, to her they were as fake in their personality as they were in their boobs.

Finally, the entrance music began and the pastor and Doctor walked down the overly furnished aisle, followed shortly after by the bridesmaids and groomsman: Martha and Mickey, Donna and Shaun Temple, and then a new young lady from Torchwood and her husband, Amy and Rory Williams. Then, the music stopped once everyone in the bridal party was assemble in the front, and the wedding march started and the door holders opened the doors once more revealing Rose in her dress; she began her graceful walk down to the dais with Pete at her side. Her eyes never leaving the Doctor's and a smile always gracing her painted lips; the Doctor himself couldn't stop smiling, he was completely taken with how beautiful she looked all in white, and was fairly certain he'd never forget the image of her as she walked to him. When they arrived the pastor asked who was giving this young lady away and Pete responded "I am." Then the Doctor took Rose's hand as her father released it and the ceremony began. All through the service the couple could hear her mum crying in the pew behind them, even through their vows of spending the rest of their lives together through all of time and space.

"You may kiss the bride."

He gave a cheeky grin and looked back at her, "I promise to make it a good one."

"You better." As she finished he brought his lips down onto hers in the sweetest kiss she'd ever received.

Everyone in the room applauded and some even whistled, then the motioned for silenced, and as silence fell across the hall he turned the couple to face the room and announced them as Mr. and Mrs. Doctor John Smith, and following came another round of applause and whistling along with a few "it's about time's" from the front row. The newly married couple gave a small laugh and headed towards the exit, the bridal party coming in behind them, and finally the guests were allowed to leave to go to the reception at the mansion. The party stayed behind for a bit to have the group pictures done then the bridesmaids and groomsmen left leaving just Rose and the Doctor to do their pictures with only the two of them.

"Mum is going to murder you if you tell her that I hope you realize...not to mention when we tell her that we are immediately heading over to the TARDIS to prepare to leave after the reception is over or at least when we leave it. She'll have a fit when we tell her that."

"Yea...I'm aware that I'll be evoking her wrath about having children; but do you really think she'd be that upset about us travelling in the TARDIS?" Seeing the glance she gave him he nodded. "Yea...she'll be that mad. Well, maybe since we are telling her with a bunch of people around she'll control her reaction and not completely blow a casket."

Rose burst out with a very amused and mocking laugh and the Doctor felt his hopes deflate because even he knew that where Jackie was concerned dodging a torpedo in the water was near impossible. Finally, they pulled up to the mansion, the Doctor got out first and went around and opened her door, helping her out then shutting the door behind her. He looped her arm through his and they walked arm in arm up to the house. Jackie opened the door before they had even finished climbing the steps and in her high pitched voice announced their arrival to all who were within hearing range which was pretty much the whole house.

"What did I tell you, Susan...my daughter did get married after all, and you thought she wouldn't go through it."

"Jackie, I was at the wedding, I did hear her say 'I do' now I guess the big question is when we can expect to see little feet running around this drafty old house?"

The ten immediate surrounding people plus Jackie and Susan turned and stared at the couple standing uncomfortably in the doorway still. Rose let a hesitant laugh escape briefly, "I think that's a conversation for a later time..." Jackie's eyes narrowed. "Oh look, there's Sarah Jane and Luke, John, let's go say hello. Excuse us."

They pushed through the circle and quickly made their way into the adjourning rooms, they could feel the heat of Jackie's glare following them until they were out of her direct line of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief she looked around and found Sarah Jane and Luke who were talking to Amy and Rory in the corner. They kept finding friendly faces to occupy themselves with until Jackie's group of speculators moved on; Donna came around after a while and snagged Rose away to go change out of her dress. Donna's grandfather took that time to come over and speak with the Doctor keeping him safely engrossed so Jackie couldn't nag him about the unsatisfactory answer about the children. In only a short while Rose reemerged with Donna and Martha at her side, she now wore a more comfortable white sundress. They talked and mingled with the guests and always dodging Jackie who kept trying to get close enough to get a word in. After a while they went out the back door to stroll in the gardens where it was peaceful and quiet. She was growing tired of the constant crowd of people always swarming around them, she just wanted to spend some real alone time with her husband; once out of sight of the house they stopped, looking up at the sky she let out a grateful sigh. Giving her hand a gentle squeeze he got her attention, her brown eyes glittered beautifully in the late afternoon light, he smiled down at her.

"We're married."

"I know..." she said happily and turned to face him completely. "I'm not Mrs. Doctor John Smith."

"I know." He pulled her close as he wrapped and arm around her waist, her own arms wrapping around his waist. He leaned her against a nearby tree as a soft moan escaped her lips as he planted a passionate kiss on them. One of the straps of her dress fell off her shoulder, his lips trailed over the bare skin there making her shiver delightfully. Returning to her lips he slipped the strap back up with lazy fingers. He rested his forehead against hers and looked deeply into her eyes, she was flushed a nice shade of pink; a mischievous smile crept onto her mouth.

"Oh Doctor, I think you're getting a little excited." Her eyes trailed down between them then back up to his eyes.

"Can't help it, I've waited years for this night..."

"Rose..." Jackie's voice rang through the garden making them both jump suddenly and pull themselves further behind the tree. "Rose, I need to talk to you."

She kissed him quickly then left the cover of the tree and walked up the path a little ways. "What is it, mum, I was trying to get a few moments alone for once today."

"I just wanted to know what you meant when you told everyone that the idea of children was a conversation for another time? You have Susan saying that the two of you are not planning on having any children and that's why you refused to talk about it. How can you do something like that to me, you know how much it means to me to have grandchildren? You wouldn't do that to me would you?"

Rose rolled her eyes, "Mum, I said that because at that very moment we did not want to discuss the topic of babies, this is our wedding day, let us just enjoy that for now."

"But you are..."

"MUM! For once lay off, because maybe we aren't planning on children and maybe we are, but when we are ready to discuss it we will discuss it with the whole family and everyone will support our decision whether or not they like our choice. But for tonight I want to celebrate my marriage to a man who loves me, now can I do that one thing?"

Jackie nodded dejectedly and Rose pushed past her to go back inside, she felt bad for leaving her husband out there and for being so harsh to her mum, but she just wished her mum would let them live their own lives without trying to interfer. The Doctor watched her stalk away, he couldn't go inside till he got himself under control. Somehow he knew that Jackie would push the issue of children until it finally knocked Rose over the edge, however, he had thought that she'd at least wait until tomorrow to start the pushing. He watched his mother-in-law slowly go back inside looking deflated and beaten, he resolved to try and do something to cheer her up without letting her know he'd seen and heard their argument.

Rose sat in her room at the Tyler Mansion just looking up at the ceiling, she'd been up there for about ten minutes before she heard a knock on the door followed by the click of the latch as the door opened, her husband's head poked into the room; after asking if he could come in and receiving a nod from her he closed the door behind him and joined her on the edge of the bed. He wrapped and arm around her waist and pulled her into an embrace, she laid her head on his shoulder and sighed feeling her frustration begin to leave her body.

"I'm sorry I left you out there, I just got so mad at her and had to get away quickly."

"That's alright, but you did leave your mum looking like a deflated balloon when you walked off. Maybe you were a little harsh on her?"

"Maybe, but she needs to learn some boundaries and just let us live our lives the way we choose to. She acts so impatient about things that cannot always be controlled, I mean what would she do if I physically couldn't have children?"

"She'd be upset, but she'd get over it and be there to support you no matter what." She gave him a blank look which he only returned with a smile and kissed her forehead. "Come on we still have some guests that we have yet to talk to, much less cut the cake. Cannot do a wedding and not have cake."

"You love cake entirely too much."

"Not possible."

They went back downstairs to the reception and mingled with the guests some more, cut the cake (much to the Doctor's delight), the garter toss, which left him blushing as he was not used to such human traditions. Mickey caught the flying garter and all the gentlemen whooping at him saying he was next; as was Donna after catching the bouquet. After a couple more hours the newlyweds made their way out to their car to head to the TARDIS and eventually their honeymoon. Rose caught her mum on the way out with a peck on the cheek and a whispered apology for her earlier outburst.

* * *

They arrived back at the condo to change into some comfortable travelling clothes so they could go prep the TARDIS for their big adventures after the meeting in the morning when they officially set out on their extended honeymoon. The ship was not filled with clothes from every century yet so they were having to start from scratch; once all their bags were packed they looked around at their semi empty home, pictures of them together and their friends and family sat on the mantle and shelves in each room. Rose sighed, it was such a strange feeling, she felt like she was completely giving up this life to start a new one that would never be consistent, but always changing. She felt his arms come around from behind and hold her tightly to him, his lips making a trail from the bottom of her ear down t her shoulder, she gave a soft moan and angled her neck to give him better access, his fingers were playing with the edge of her shirt, lifting it up and exposing her flat stomach; his hand moved to caress the exposed skin. She leaned her head back and rested it on his shoulder, he pulled her back to their room and down onto the bed. Clothes were being thrown in every which direction and their lips barely leaving the others as that consummated their marriage.

An hour later the sound of her cell phone going off in the other room woke her from the light sleep she'd fallen into, she felt his arm that was still wrapped around her naked hip, she rolled over to stare into his face. Feeling her movements he opened his eyes to see her brown ones looking back at him; they both grinned, they were married and were going to spend the rest of their lives enjoying that in every way they possibly could. They had an endless amount of love for one another.

"We should probably get over to Torchwood so we can get everything into the TARDIS." He sat up and got out of bed, grabbing clothes as he walked into the bathroom. She gave a groan and pulled the covers over her head, she was not ready to get up and go anywhere even though she knew they needed to. Grudgingly she removed the covers and left the comfort of their bed and got dressed again.

**AN: Sorry for the long wait on this addition. Been a little busy with work and catching up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while.**


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